Normal life
by Hedgemousse
Summary: In this futuristic world, Beca Mitchell must hide her cyborg parts to have a normal life. This was until Chloe Beale asks for a favor. This is my first fic and I don't know how to write a summary... Be nice!
1. Chapter 1

**Hi there! This is my first fic so be nice :) also English is not my first language so I apologize for all the mistakes!**

 **I don't own Pitch Perfect nor the Lunar Chronicles**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

"Becaw!"

She lifted her head. Jesse was looking at her with an curious face. She raised an eyebrow at him, her expression clearly saying 'I am busy and you are disturbing me'.

"Where did you go this time? I said your name twice already." Jesse grinned at her, clearly unaffected by her dead glare. When Beca showed no signs of a possible answer, he sighed dramatically. "You could at least pay attention when I'm being the caring best friend you've ever had."

Beca only rolled her eyes in return but she was smiling. "What do you want anyway?"

"Just asking how was your day." He made himself comfortable on the edge of the desk.

"Same as always." She let her eyes wander over her workshop. It was all rusty, smelly and greasy. Nothing else to expect from a mechanic. The glowing old laptop at the end of the desk caught her eyes. It was already 5pm, the day passed in a blur and she didn't realize she had skipped lunch until now. "People ask stupid questions and some are demanding for the impossible. I do electronics not magic." She frowned at the end of her sentence.

"But you are sooo talented people believe you're a magician." Jesse grinned wider.

"If I was a magician, this shop wouldn't be the same, trust me."

"You mean it would be cleaner?" He laughed out loud at his friend's face.

To be true, this place was a giant mess. Tools, metals pieces, screws and wires were scattered everywhere and cables dangled from the ceiling. It was difficult to walk straight in this small room even if the grey tiles were somewhat clean. Hopefully, the customers couldn't enter the workshop. There was only a small counter on one side open in the street, which was great since Beca craved for intimacy. She didn't like working with someone watching her every move. The desk was just below the counter Jesse was leaning on.

"I mean I wouldn't be here at all!" Beca chuckled. Jesse knew how to make her laugh and she appreciated this side of him.

He dropped a paper bag on the counter with a grin. "I guess you haven't eaten a proper meal today so I picked this for you."

She smiled back, a content surprise adorning her features. "You're the best." She knew it wasn't good for his ego but she was starving and crowded areas made her uneasy. While Jesse was auto-congratulating himself, she opened the bag carefully. A pleasant odor reached her nose. She took a piece out of the loaf and put it into her mouth. As it melted slowly on her tongue, she hummed in satisfaction.

Her taste was one of the few things she has left. When she was younger, she had an accident. She lost various parts of her body such as her left leg and her right hand. She went deaf and her vision was altered. Her brain suffered major damages and she would've died an hour after the accident. Hopefully, a person took her to a medical center and she spent a lot of time inside - she didn't know if it was weeks, months or years. The day she was allowed to go outside, she had a metal hand and leg and a computer implanted in her head to help her senses. She don't remember anything before her accident and she only has a few memories about the center.

As she was eating, the computer in her brain - she named it Kasmer, because sometimes he was a bit reluctant to help her and she thought it was exactly what a schizophrenic person would do - analysed the taste as cinnamon, a spice from another continent. Kasmer was searching informations about cinnamon and displayed it on the screen in her retina. Very convenient.

"This is really good." She said between bites. Jesse grinned at her.

"Told you so. This new bakery is awesome." Suddenly, he seemed to remember something. "Oh! And Benji gave me the piece you were looking for!" He dug in his pockets and handed her a copper bolt.

Beca sat straighter on her chair. Wordlessly, she took the piece and reached for her tools. She striped down her metal foot and put it on the desk.

"Thank Benji for me, the old one was very uncomfortable." She glanced once at him and he nodded back.

Jesse made his way inside the workshop and went into the other room to make coffee. Engrossed in her work - dammit this old bolt won't go -, Beca didn't notice the customer waiting beside the counter. Her head snapped up as someone cleared his throat.

The first thing Beca saw was two bright blue eyes staring at her. The woman - because these gorgeous features couldn't be masculine - had a grey hood covering her head as if she was hiding.

"Excuse me, is it the Grasshopper's workshop?" The unknown woman asked sweetly.

When Beca heard her voice, her jaw slacked open. She knew this voice. Kasmer went haywire, sending warning signals to her retina, along with pictures from the web. This woman standing in front of her was Chloe Beale, princess and heiress of the kingdom's throne. What was she doing here? She was supposed to be locked inside the palace for security reasons. Besides, this district wasn't safe. Nobody would go there unless they have a good reason to.

The heiress tilted her head at Beca's muteness. She seemed amused. Kasmer kept sending images to her retina, distracting Beca a few seconds. Chloe Beale was beautiful. The pictures couldn't take the spark in her eyes - so bright and so blue. Up close, there was a simplicity in her features that looks gorgeous on her.

"Hello?" The redhead was still waiting for an answer, finding this whole scene very funny, so Beca gulped and clenched her jaw.

"Um... I'm... Yes."

"Great, I would like to speak to the owner please?" The heiress had a polite smile on and it made her cheeks go higher. _Adorable_ , Beca thought.

A lot of people asked this question because Beca was small and they believed she was the daughter of the boss. Usually, Beca will stand straighter and proudly inform them she owned the shop. With a sarcastic tone of course. But there, Beca could only stare at the woman. She realized she was still seated on her chair. In front of the heiress. Such a behavior could be punished by a little stay in jail. She should be bowing twice in front of her and wait for the princess to speak first.

Beca started to panic because her foot was still on the desk and she couldn't bow with one leg. From where the heiress was standing, she has no clue about Beca's metal parts, mostly because Beca always wore gloves to work.

"Bec you have to do something about t-" Jesse came back with two coffee mugs in his hands. He froze when he saw the princess. He recovered quickly and bowed so fast he spilled some coffee on the floor. "Your Highness, excuse my intrusion I-"

"Save the speech, I'm trying to be discreet here." The heiress cut him. "You can call me Chloe, are you the owner of the Grasshopper's?"

Jesse opened his mouth in return. On a first name basis with the future Queen? This day deserved to be marked and celebrated. He pointed at Beca wordlessly, not trusting his tongue.

Chloe followed his fingers and her eyes found Beca's again. The brunette still had a dazed look and it amused Chloe even more.

"This must happen very often, hm?" She smiled wide.

Beca shrugged. She had recovered from her starstruck state and was now able to communicate. "More than you can imagine. My name is Beca, welcome to the Grasshopper's workshop. What can I do to help you?"

The speech was always the same and it was said mechanically - no pun intended.

"Nice to meet you Beca, you can call me Chloe too. I'm in a hurry and I'd be grateful if you keep this meeting unknown if you know what I mean." She had a candid smile on and Beca would agree to do anything if it could bring this smile on the redhead lips again.

"Our shop policy includes privacy closes, don't worry." Beca nodded. She was feeling nervous, her foot was still on the table and she couldn't move. If the heiress needed something in the shop, she'd have to creep and it will probably scare the redhead away. Everybody hated cyborgs.

"Fine." The heiress reached for something in her pocket and gave it to Beca. "This card contains private data about the kingdom. But it's currently locked. I know you are a mechanic and not a computer specialist but I was hoping you could help. I can't trust anyone in the palace to do this."

"You want me to hack this card?" Beca asked in disbelief.

Chloe nodded so fast her hood almost came down but she maintained it in place. "I know this sounds crazy." She smiled sweetly. "But I feel I can trust you, and whatever you find on this card, don't tell anyone."

She gave Jesse a pointed look and he retracted on the corner of the room under her glare. He still had the mugs of coffee glued to his hands.

"And of course you'll be rewarded with anything you want." The redhead returned her attention to Beca.

The statement made the brunette speechless. She could ask for a new hand. Or to have fake skin covering her added members. Walking in the street fearless and confident. A normal life. Everything she dreamt of.

Her thoughts were cut short as the heiress dropped a heavy bag on the counter.

"To help the research." Chloe winked and the screen in her left arm buzzed, signaling a new message. The redhead glanced at it and groaned. She looked up at the two, who were ogling the bag, quite in shock. "Also I want you to have my personal number, so you can contact me easily. Never go to the palace or any of my secretaries for this. Is it okay for you?"

The mechanic snapped her head up to meet her eyes. The hopeful smile and blue eyes made Beca's heart beat faster. The confidence in her orbs was rubbing on her. She stood straight, a hand holding tightly on the desk so she won't fall. Beca slowly removed the glove from her left hand - her human one - so the right was still in place.

"You can count on me Red." She almost blushed at her words, too cocky for her usual langage. Chloe smiled wider at the nickname and extended her left arm and Beca did the same. When their arms touched, they both chimed.

"Alright, I need to go before someone find me. It was a pleasure meeting you, Jesse." She smiled at him and he bowed mockingly, earning a few giggles. Beca's breath was caught in her throat at the sound. Chloe winked at her again. "See you later, Beca!"

And with this last sentence, she left. In seconds, she was out of sight, lost in the crowd.

"Am I dreaming?!"

Jesse's voice woke her up from her daydream. She mumbled a "if you are dreaming then I think we are in the same dream" and took the bag. Damn! It was really heavy.

"How much?" Jesse scouted closer to her and looked above her shoulder.

"More than one thousand." She stated, her retina scanning the bag. "1,500 exactly."

"Wow... She likes you."

"It will be useful to unlock this card, I need a laser soldering iron and this is really expensive." She shrugged, not understanding what he meant.

Jesse looked at her in disbelief. "Are you blind?" Beca raised an eyebrow. "She was flirting with you! And even more shocking, you flirted back!"

"And there will be nothing more between us because she is the future queen. Stop being ridiculous Jesse."

"You can't blame me, you got her number after all." He left the room with the now cold coffee.

Beca looked at the ID in her left arm. The screen inside her forearm was displaying [Chloe Beale added to your contacts]. Her breathing pattern was irregular. Kasmer send her red signals to slow her fast beating heart. She realized these signals had been present since the beginning of the conversation. She just ignored them, the redhead was definitely more interesting.

She shook her head and decided to close the workshop for today. She needed a distraction.


	2. Chapter 2

**Here is chapter two!**

 **I'll try to post once a week, because you guys are amazing and I can't let you wait for too long! Enjoy :)**

* * *

About half an hour after Chloe's departure, Beca finally came back to her senses and finished her task with the copper bolt. After testing her left foot for a moment and let a small smile of contentment, she went to Jesse at the back of the workshop. It was almost as messy as the front. At least nobody could see inside, and Beca cherished this feeling of intimacy surrounded by all the high tech machines and expensive materials. She bought this for Kasmer because he couldn't repair himself.

Jesse ranted about Chloe's presence in front of them, but he stopped when he saw the tiny brunette taking the board hanging on the wall and starting to clean it. He went from gushy to annoyed in a matter of seconds. They were now arguing because Beca wanted to go out and race.

"You can't seriously go tonight."

"Watch me." Beca mumbled, her back to Jesse while she was checking the motor on her board.

Jesse sighed heavily and pinched the bridge of his nose, as if he was speaking to a child.

"Beca, you just got a lot of money today. You know these races are dangerous and I don't want to see you hurt..."

Beca stilled her movements. She turned around to face him, playing with her earrings. One of them was a gift from Jesse and Benji, an ear spike. When Beca opened the box, she was really grateful for the present, but after Benji's explanation of the hidden communication capacities of the gadget, the tiny brunette was close to tears. Touching her earrings had become an habit whenever she was stressed or when she couldn't find her words.

She met Jesse's anxious eyes and sighed.

"Extra money never killed anyone. And you should know that I'm tougher than I look."

Jesse pouted and she rolled her eyes. "I'm not going to win, aren't I?" He sounded defeated.

Satisfied, Beca turned around again and finished her task before looking above her shoulder. "Not at all." She deadpanned. Internally she was smiling at her friend's concern.

"Well good luck then." He grinned. "I bet on you Becaw! Don't make me lose my money!"

* * *

Tonight's race took place in the old castle. Far from the city, because board races were illegal. Maybe it explains why there was so much people scattered around to watch. Beca didn't complain, more people, more money.

She started to race when the workshop wasn't enough to pay her bills. She could eat and pay the small flat she rented but her cyborg parts needed maintenance and it was rather expensive. So she built a board to earn extra money from the races.

It worked well. With Kasmer and her computer senses, she was fast and her tiny frame was an advantage. Her homemade board was great. She downloaded lots of board plans on the web. Looking like the skateboards in old times, the wheels were removed in order to place anti-gravitational magnets. At the end of the board was the motor, a smaller version of a jet engine.

She was proud of her job and her board never failed before. Jesse was always the first to bet on her and always ended up with a huge bag of money too - he once called Beca her _sugar mommy_ and the eye roll he got in return was by far the biggest he had ever witnessed.

Accidents were usual in a race and a lot of them were deadly. The speed and altitude were the main factors among others, like sabotage or collisions. In Beca's case, sabotage wasn't possible because it was her board and she took care of it herself. Perks of being a mechanic.

Beyond that, Beca loved to race. The adrenaline made her feel alive. She was wearing a black suit that covered her body, black boots, black aerodynamic shape helmet, black gloves and a yellow belt. The belt came from her first race, when a stranger said she looked like a bee. She liked the idea and bought this belt.

She was standing on the waiting line with the other racers. Her black helmet was covering her face since she arrived, nobody here knew her true face. According to Jesse, it was for her security. The guards cannot find her if she was anonymous. In reality, he just found her helmet badass and was making her wear it on every occasion.

Kasmer finished the scan of her board and reported that no default was found. She sighed shakily, releasing some stress. Every time she raced, the adrenaline was almost too much to handle. And she had her fair share of races.

The host introduced each competitor. Beca was familiar with most of the names. Some of them raced every night, hoping to qualify for a bigger event. Some of them were like Beca, only racing from time to time to earn money.

"And to his left we have the Black Bee!" The host presented in his over enthusiastic voice.

The tiny brunette waved at the crowd and received loud cheers. She heard the host introduce the racer next to her, whose nickname was The Hunter. What a funny name. She never saw her before - she would remember someone racing with these tempting feminine curves.

She was wearing a tight dark red suit with a white helmet. Her visor was up, and she was smiling at the bleachers. The crowd was loud, whistling and screaming. To be true, this new racer was hot. And she seemed fit too. Beca smirked. The race was promising.

The Hunter sensed her stare and flashed her a wink. "See you after the race Lil' Bee!"

Beca was speechless. Hopefully, the race was starting in a few seconds, preventing her from saying something stupid.

The cannon banged and Beca went full speed, dodging the pillars and walls. She heard an explosion behind but she focused on the road. Well, the road was just a path in the ruins of the castle, which required her to fly and dive around the area.

She was in second place, but she wasn't worried. At some point, she dived under the first racer - a regular guy named Flashing Flute - and put her board on the side to take a right turn.

She was first. Three more loops and she will win. Beca could now enjoy the race, struggling against the wind. As she bend her knees to dive to the ground, she heard another explosion. Two accidents in one race? No wonder the crowd was this loud.

Kasmer sensed another racer coming. To say Beca was surprised was an understatement. She was not used to have another racer catching on her. The Hunter appeared to her left. They stayed side by side for a few seconds.

Beca glanced at her. The Hunter couldn't see her face thanks to the stained glass but the tiny brunette clearly saw the smirk directed for her. Kasmer flooded her senses, warning her of an incoming wall. Just in time, her board flew above it.

Her heart was beating fast. She couldn't be distracted. The Hunter had stolen her first place as the brunette was dodging the obstacle. Beca sped up. No way she was loosing against her. She needed this money. Or her ego needed to win since she had gained quite an important amount from the heiress today.

Her thoughts drifted to Chloe Beale. The way smiled at her with her pretty blue eyes. Her angelic voice. The chill that rolled down her spine when their arms touched… Kasmer put red signals in her retina, urging her to focus.

Beca realized it was the last loop. And The Hunter was almost out of sight, too far away. She groaned in frustration. Pushing her board to max power, she adopted a straight trajectory. Risking a collision with an obstacle, she brushed against a pillar without slowing down.

Kasmer detected a scratch on the bottom of her board. She didn't care. The Hunter was getting closer. Her movements were fluid, like she was born to race. But Beca had Kasmer and even if it was cheating, no one could guess she had a computer in her brain.

She reached the red racer and waited behind for the right timing. It happened when Kasmer analysed the slalom pattern in front of them. Beca could go straight if she flew down in a small opening, just large enough to her board. The problem was the shape of this small hole in the wall, it was large at the top and tight at the bottom. To cross it, she needed to be upside down.

She never tried to return her board while racing because her feet weren't attached to the board. She could fall and die on the impact. A glance at The Hunter decided her. She went down to the opening. She faintly heard the host yelling at the crowd. He must've understood her plan.

Beca focused Kasmer on the trajectory and frowned in concentration. Everything happened very quickly. She bent her knees and gripped the sides of her board. She took a deep breath and turned over. Gravity took control of her body immediately. She swore and struggled to keep her position and retracted her head.

Her right shoulder brushed against the opening. Her muscles hurted and her jaw was clenched to the point of tears. She didn't let it go.

Once she reached the end of the wall, she turned her board to be in a normal posture again. Kasmer was having a small celebration inside her head. She didn't slow down for a second.

The Hunter was still in the slalom, so Beca raced to the finish line. She realized she was still gripping the board tightly when she crossed the line.

Loud cheers erupted around her. She slowed down, fists in the air. This was overwhelming, the crowd, the noise, the adrenaline and Kasmer.

"Wow, I knew you were good but that was amazing!"

Beca turned around and saw The Hunter, visor up and smiling wide.

"You earn it, Lil' Bee. Next time I'll crush you." The taller woman extended her hand with a playful smirk. After a brief pause, Beca shook her hand. She was not comfortable with her right cyborg hand but the other woman didn't seem to notice the hardness of her metal hand underneath the glove.

Beca nodded, the only expression readable with her black tinted visor. She awkwardly stood as the host came to congratulate her. She was asked to stand on the podium, then she received her prize. After, she left as soon as she could and went straight home, not wanting to stay for a drunk celebration nor a surprise escouade that would throw her tiny body into a cell.

Kasmer guided her through deserted paths and empty streets. She removed her suit behind a trash bin and changed into more normal clothes. She arrived at her workshop and went upstairs, where she lived.

She reconnected her screen because she always put her ID in an untraceable mode before a race. She was careful with the guards, they watched the races closely and aimed at the racers first.

It was late and Beca was physically tired. The adrenaline had left her bloodstream and her muscles ached from her extra figure tonight. Even her cyborg hand was a bit damaged by the hard gripping on her board. Which needed some repair too.

Beca fell on the bed face first with a groan as her screen chimed. She was tempted to ignore it a few seconds. She wanted to wake up early and work on Chloe's card. Jesse must've heard of her race tonight and she was not in the mood to start another silly conversation about the race or the miraculous apparition of the heiress this afternoon.

The screen chimed again and she gave in, raising her arm slowly.

[2 new messages from Chloe Beale]

Beca gasped and lifted her chin from the mattress, all ideas of sleep thrown out of her mind.

[Chloe] Hi! I know you must have things waaayy more important to do but… If this is not too much to ask, could you please make it your priority? :) Don't get me wrong, if you need time then it's fine and I don't want to pressure you. Anyway take the time you need ;)

[Chloe] Beca? Is everything alright? Your ID seems disconnected…

Beca smiled to herself. Who would've thought the heiress had a rambling problem? She thought of a polite answer during what could be hours.

She typed a short message and sent it after debating if the text was correct. It was past midnight and Chloe was certainly sleeping. The brunette changed for the night and as she was closing her eyes for a good - short - night, her ID chimed.

[Chloe] Beca! You're alive! Thank you so much! :)) You're not sleeping yet? :P

[Beca] Not yet, a redhead is keeping me awake.

[Chloe] Aww, sorry Beca! Good night then, see you tomorrow ;)

For a second, Beca thought Jesse might be right. The heiress was flirting with her! Chloe was sexy and famous so nobody could refuse her anything. Flirt was a terribly effective weapon on Beca, especially if it was a hot woman.

Her mind was running full speed but her body was tired. She brought her cyborg hand up to her face. Metal and wires. Half her constitution wasn't her original body. She was a broken human, and her hand needed to be checked tomorrow.

Hopefully she had Kasmer to watch her. He sent a picture of two bears hugging to her retina and she chuckled. Yes, it was great to have him. Feeling safe and very tired, she fell asleep.


	3. Chapter 3

**Merry Christmas! I'm posting a new chapter as a gift, hope you'll like it! :)**

 **Also, you've been so great with the reviews and favorites! Thank you so much :D**

* * *

"I'm so disappointed." Christopher said with a deep frown, hands crossed over his desk.

Chloe sighed and looked down. Here she was, late in the evening, facing her father's wrath.

"I'm sorry Dad, okay? But you have to understand that I can't stay in the palace all my life, I need to go out and see the world! How can I rule this country if I don't know the people living in here?"

He exhaled heavily. "I'm not mad." At Chloe's raised eyebrow, he conceded. "Well, just very disappointed. But I'm worried about your safety Chloe. Going out in the streets without warning anybody is not safe."

"I know Dad. It's just… Why can't you trust me? I can defend myself." Chloe's eyes were showing a bit of pain. She wasn't a cocky person but she was confident. Her own father didn't believe she had great self defense skills. Even though she had excellent grades on the tests.

"Yes you do sweetheart." He said with a fond smile. "That's why I'll let it slip this time." An hopeful expression appeared on Chloe's face. He pointed a warning finger at her. "But on one condition."

Chloe beamed, knowing she had won already. "Shoot."

"Next time you go out of the palace… Just tell me okay?" His tone was hesitant but the wide smile on his daughter's face was priceless.

The redhead got up and embraced her father in a bear hug. Thanking him profusely, she giggled and he laughed. His daughter had a contagious laugh. Then she excused herself and left his office, heading for her bedroom after a last goodnight kiss on the top of his head.

Wandering in the palace, she glanced at her screen. Beca wasn't replying to her message - sent more than an hour ago!- and she was worried. Chloe sighed and shook her head, as if getting rid of her bugging thoughts. She sent another message to check on the tiny brunette. Maybe she was just sleeping and she was worrying for nothing.

When she opened her bedroom door, someone was already inside, comfortably sitting on her king sized bed. She let a surprised noise as the other woman stood up, not expecting to have a visitor.

"I made it Chlo!"

The tall figure jumped excitedly engulfed Chloe in a lung crushing hug. Chloe protested but she was giggling, crushing back with the same amount of enthusiasm.

"I knew it! So first place?" Chloe stepped away to look at her brunette friend in the eyes.

Stacie Conrad, daughter of two scientists and gifted by Mother Nature herself, was one of Chloe's best friends. Even if she had a predilection for flirting with everyone - literally _everyone_ with no shame whatsoever -, she was really smart and had a caring heart. Working with her parents in the lab, she had secretly built a board and went to race for the first time tonight. The redhead assumed she won, knowing how talented the tall brunette was when it came to drive any vehicle.

"Sadly no." Stacie pouted, then added in a mischievous tone. "But I raced against the Black Bee, and she is freaking insane."

"She?" Chloe interrupted. "How do you know that Stace?" She smirked as her friend rolled her eyes, sensing a crude comment coming.

"I'm not blind, girl had some curves." She chuckled. "She is racing like a champ but I think she's cheating."

Chloe frowned at this. She led Stacie to her bed and they both sat. Board races were illegal but they had very strict rules about cheating and didn't allowed any racer to be doped.

"How so?"

"Well, at the end of the race, I shook her hand and I felt something really hard behind her glove, like it was a metallic thing." Stacie added the last part as an after thought.

"You think she can be a robot? That would be very impressive." Chloe had a curious expression, yet was a little doubtful. They could build really performant robots but racing was something else and it was easily detectable.

Stacie nodded. "I don't know… Maybe? After all, it could just be protection for the race." She shrugged it off.

A knock on the door distracted them for a second and a blonde stepped inside. She looked furious.

"Chloe! Where have you been this afternoon?! Your dad was pissed off."

"Right now you're the one pissed of, Bree." Stacie joked and her smirk turned into a laugh when the blonde shot her a death glare.

Aubrey Posen was the other best friend Chloe had. Their parents were close and she was in the military, like everyone in her family. She was educated the hard way but had the soul of a child, always admiring Stacie's discoveries and first to taste the cakes Chloe made. The heiress was always looking after her, not wanting Aubrey to put too much pression on herself. Sometimes it was difficult to be her friend because the blonde had an intuition and knew when Chloe was lying. And she didn't tell them why she was out of the palace today. The redhead sighed internally, hoping Aubrey wouldn't question her too far.

Chloe waved her hand, as though dismissing the question. "Outside the palace, I needed fresh air."

"Yeah of course, the fresh polluted air of the city." Aubrey snorted.

"Don't be grumpy, come." Stacie offered as she patted the empty space next to her.

Aubrey huffed and purposely sat next to Chloe, far from the brunette who was laughing at her antics.

"So why are y-" Chloe's sentence was cut short as her ID chimed.

"Who's sending you a text this late?" Aubrey asked, curious.

Chloe looked at her screen with a grin, ignoring the question. She was trying to refrain the giddy feeling growing in her chest upon seeing the sender.

[Beca] No worries, I'll work on it tomorrow.

"Who's Beca?" Stacie glanced above the redhead's shoulder.

"Someone I met." Chloe waved her hand, not wanting to deal with their questions. She texted back with a smile on her lips.

When she looked up again, both women were studying her with their inquisitive faces - a raised eyebrow for Aubrey and a knowing smirk for Stacie.

"What?" Chloe got up to avoid this intense staring.

Her ID chimed again and she forgot about her friends. Two messages in less than a minute? This was too good to be true.

"Now I know something is up." Stacie's voice brought her back. How much time had she been grinning at her screen?

"Yeah, you never smile like this." Aubrey chimed in.

Chloe watched them. She really loved them. But she couldn't trust anyone on this. So she just shook her head with a small smile.

"Stace, tell us more about your race."

Her friends raised an eyebrow at her but respected her silence. Stacie began to explain how she outrun one racer, to Aubrey's delight.

Chloe let her mind wonder as she watched the blonde and the brunette interact. They were childhood friends and grew up closely, telling each other everything - from broken nails to the next top classified mission. Being heiresses of the three most powerful families in the kingdom, they were pretty famous. But, they never let anything damage their friendship and Chloe was feeling rather awful to hide something from them.

For once, she would take upon herself and avoid the topic as long as she could. Aubrey and Stacie left one hour later when they saw Chloe's tired face. They decided to meet again in the morning after she rested.

* * *

Beca opened the door of her workshop. It had been one day since the race and she just came back from Benji's. He got her a laser soldering iron in less than ten hours, which was really impressive.

It was around eleven in the morning when she started to work on the heiress mysterious card. Five hours later, she had cracked the card and was just waiting the files' extraction.

She made a coffee and Kasmer turned on the radio in her head. Beca sat on her chair a few minutes later, humming along with some random song. She watched the people wander in the street.

Kasmer reminded her she still got a lot of robots to repair so she sighed and reluctantly picked one robot. Her job was really interesting but most of the time, the robots weren't even broken, people just didn't know how to use them.

The intro of a famous music played on the radio and Beca sang along softly. The chorus was building and she was singing louder and louder.

 _Forever and ever  
Life is now or never  
Forever's gonna slow you down_

 _You'll never gonna see me again_

 _So now who's gonna cry for you_

 _You'll never gonna see me again_

 _No matter what you do_

"You can sing!"

Beca jumped from her seat, heart beating wildly and Kasmer going all defense mode. She gasped when her eyes met Chloe's. How could she forgot how blue her eyes were? She cleared her throat to speak but no words came out of her suddenly dry throat.

Chloe was wearing a curious expression on her face, as if Beca was the most mysterious thing she had ever seen.

"Oh hm,..." Beca closed her mouth when she realized no coherent sentences will come out of her brain. Kasmer was no help either, sending her so much information she didn't know what to do.

"You have a lovely voice Beca." Chloe said with an amused grin. "I came by to see what you've done with the card." She scratched her neck. "I know you told me a few more days but I couldn't wait. You have a lot of things to do and I assume I didn't give you the easiest task."

"No it's fine." The brunette cut her ramble politely. "I mean it's almost done."

"Really?" Chloe's eyes lit up. "Can I see it?"

Beca hesitated, looking down at her leg. Hopefully she had her boots on and no metallic part was visible. She nodded slowly and got up to open the door. Inviting Chloe Beale inside her workshop was something she hadn't considered to be possible.

"Hm, I put the card in the back." Beca said as the redhead stepped inside. "We can, uh, go if you want." She added, a bit uneasy because this wasn't organised or cleaned at all and she was totally not ready to welcome the heiress in this small space.

She pointed the door on the corner. Chloe nodded.

"You have a lovely shop." She looked at the cables dangling from the ceiling and robot parts scattered around. It wasn't as organised as what she was used to, with her two maniacal best friends and an always shining palace, but it felt like home. It was welcoming.

"Sorry it's a mess, if I had-"

"It's fine." Chloe grinned. "It's part of the charm."

The brunette chuckled at her statement and closed the door. Chloe saw the desk on her left, full of all kinds of tools - obviously very expensive and dangerous with all the protections around - and a big machine on the center. Beca explained the process to unlock the card, showing different parts of the machine.

"... and this regulates the process by adding some magnetic buffer." Beca realized she had spoken too much but Chloe wasn't complaining. She was actually seated on the chair while looking through the small glass window and nodding along with Beca's explanation. The tiny woman scratched the back of her neck and played with her ear spike, suddenly uncomfortable with her amount of speaking. "Sorry, I speak too much."

"No it's fine!" Chloe shook her head. "That's really interesting, my two best friends' parents are working either for the military or with the innovation lab. So I'm kind of used to it. How did you manage to deactivate the card's security?"

"That was the most difficult part." Beca smirked, feeling more and more confident as the redhead was admiring her work. "I asked Benji for a laser soldering iron, then I had to draw the whole security pattern on the front side of the card. It slowly dissipate the magnetic protection which goes in the buffer here." She pointed to the magnet, close to the card.

"Wait, you said you said you were using a laser soldering iron but it's really dangerous, isn't it?"

"It can be very warm when we manipulate it. It's frequent to burn your hands while drawing. And also the pattern must be done very precisely or the security clears all the data on the card." Beca shrugged as if it was nothing out of ordinary.

"How do you know there is still data inside the card?" Chloe eyed the brunette with wide eyes, impressed.

"Well, the security on this kind of card causes an explosion…"

"Oh my God! You could've died!" She brought her hands to her mouth to cover her horrified expression.

Beca just shrugged in response. "That's my job." When Chloe still didn't look convinced, she added, "And around eleven tonight, I should have extracted the data from it."

"Really?" Her smile was as wide as her eyes, washing away the worried look. Her beautiful blue eyes trapped Beca's and she felt the air in her lungs leave for a second. "That's amazing Becs! So I can come back tomorrow morning?"

"Of course." Beca smiled lightly, the redhead's excitement was contagious. Also, the use of her nickname was warming her insides. "I'll be waiting."

Chloe smirked at the brunette. She liked her confident side, it was absolutely sexy. Not that she was looking forward to anything else. Just a little bit. She winked in response and saw Beca's cheeks becoming red. Her flustered side was cute too.

"So I had a great time but I should be going now." Chloe stood up fast and almost ended up in Beca's arms. Cheeks still flushed, Beca took a step back with her eyes boring into the ground. Chloe took the brunette gloved hand in hers and gave it a light squeeze. Beca snapped her head up immediately, not expecting this kind of contact. Hopefully, it was her human one. "See you tomorrow!" Chloe flashed her best smile and headed outside.

Leaving a very confused Beca in the back of her shop.

* * *

 **The music in this chapter is from September - Cry for you.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Happy New Year everyone! ;)**

 **Here is a slightly longer chapter, sorry for the wait but I hope it'll be worth it!**

 **Also I changed the rating cause it won't be as hard as expected. If you have any recommandations, let me know :) 2019 will be full of surprises don't worry!**

* * *

Another sleepless night. Beca sighed. She needed as much sleep as any human and Kasmer was reprimanding her like a undisciplined child. It was so much fun to be in her head.

She was collecting Chloe's super confidential data on a new card she bought. The transfert was almost finished. She rubbed her eyes and yawned. Her tired eyes were struggling to stay open. She heard a weird scratching sound. She looked up at the screen but nothing was wrong. The data was now saved on the card. Beca smiled to herself and took the new card. She stretched her back, sore from the long day, and got up to find a clean box to put the card inside. She wanted Chloe to admire her job and smile at her the way she did just a few hours ago.

She went to the front room of her shop, where the blinds were down. She heard the scratching noise again. Louder this time.

"You gotta be kidding me." She muttered grumpily.

She realized it came from outside. She went to open the door but the moment her hand was on the handle, she froze. Beca was familiar with all kinds of gadgets, and she had to repair a few radios used by the guards. So when she heard the little bip on the other side of the door, she knew it was coming from a guard's radio.

Why was there guards scratching her door at almost three in the morning? There was only one possible answer, and Kasmer was urging her to run away. They found out she was the Black Bee.

So she ran. Tripped on a robot, and didn't bother to put it back in place. Headed to the back office. Thought about the bag she had upstairs, prepared in case this scenario happened. Waiting for her next to her board.

The sight of Chloe's card made her pause for a second. The card! A second of silence then she heard a more violent sound, a loud thud on the front door. Without thinking twice, she took the card, put it in her pocket and rushed upstairs.

She knew the guards will search in the workshop before coming to the first floor. She had at least thirty seconds to organise. To think straight.

Kasmer told her what she needed to take. Easy. She got this. First, disconnect her screen, her ear spike and change into more fitting clothes.

The door was forced open as Beca had changed her outfit for her racer suit. If they came to arrest the Black Bee, she would at least be dressed properly. For once. She decided to leave the yellow belt on her bed, too visible for what she was hoping would be a discreet escape. Adjusting her backpack, she took one calming breath. The window was large enough for her. She started her board and flew through the night as the guards were still downstairs.

* * *

"Go away ma'am, no citizen is allowed in this area."

The guard was gently moving Chloe away from the house. Hopefully, he didn't recognized her under her hood. One old woman in the rapidly forming crowd expressed her frustration.

"I'm sorry young man, but I need my personal robot assistant, and it is just behind you." She said in a high pitched voice, as if she was disgusted of the guard.

"I repeat, you aren't allowed to go in ma'am. There was a gas leak inside and it can be dangerous. Please step back." The guard was doing his best not to lose his temper.

Chloe tuned out the crowd, looking at the small building in front of her. It was Beca's workshop. She glanced at the screen in her forearm. Still no news from the brunette. She tried to call again but it went to voicemail. Damn, she really needed the data. And she was a bit worried something bad had happened to the tiny mechanic.

Her screen chimed and she felt a rush of adrenaline, thinking it was Beca finally calling her back. Her smile fell when she saw Aubrey's picture on display. Chloe wasn't ready for a long sermon about security and responsibilities a heiress must have, so she declined the call and texted her she was going back to the palace. She moved slowly up the streets to the palace, feet crawling and feeling more than just disappointed.

* * *

"Chloe!" Stacie was the first up and gave her a hug. "Warn a girl when you go downtown. I wanna have fun too."

Stacie's pout made the redhead giggle. Chloe stepped out of her embrace and faced the blonde sitting on the edge of her bed.

"Where would you go?" Aubrey asked in a firm voice.

"Uh." Chloe was going to lie but the expectant look on her friend's faces was too much for her. "To be true, I'm not going in town for fun…"

"We figured." Aubrey muttered. Stacie glared at the blonde for the interruption. She looked sheepish and motioned for Chloe to continue. "Sorry Chlo."

"It's fine. So hum… I was in my father's office the other day, waiting for him. I know he don't like when I'm looking in his papers but I couldn't help it. And I mean, I need to know what will happen to me when he'll be gone, it'll be my job to run-"

"Get to the point." Aubrey's impatience was evident in her voice. Chloe smiled lightly in amusement and proceeded.

"Well, I found a card, hidden in a pile of papers. I thought he just forgot it there and I could give it to him directly. I put the card in my pocket and he came in the office. He glared at me and went straight to the pile I was searching into. It was so unusual for him to ignore me like that. I forgot to give him the card. He was just fumbling around his desk and I assumed he didn't need me so I left. Back in my room, I remembered the card and just observed it. If Chris was busy I figured it could wait tomorrow. The card was really strange, it had a security I never saw before."

"Do you have it here?" Stacie chimed in.

Chloe shook her head. "No. I tried to see the data on it but it was locked. And I'm the heiress so I have all access to any locked card. It was so strange and I was curious. I searched for a hacker in town and I gave her the card."

"Her?" The busty brunette asked and Aubrey was surprised at Stacie's sudden excitement.

"Yes what's the problem?" Chloe shrugged.

"I guess you were texting to her the other day." The smirk on Stacie's lips was made to kill. Chloe blushed a bit, causing the brunette to laugh. "She must be really hot."

"You bet." Chloe winked and Aubrey rolled her eyes.

"Falling for a hacker? Doesn't sound so great to me." Aubrey's disapproval was dripping out of her tense body.

"Oh shut up Bree." Stacie countered playfully. "Let Chlo finish her love story."

The blonde huffed and plopped down on a vacant chair.

"It's not a love story Stace." Chloe said with a twinkle in her eyes as she watched Aubrey's false grumpy attitude. "It was pure business." She chose to ignore Stacie's eye roll. "Anyway, she finished to download the data during the night and I was supposed to take the card back today. But when I went to her workshop, it was surrounded by guards and she isn't answering my calls or messages. It seems like her screen is disconnected."

Both friends watched Chloe, then they exchanged a look. Stacie spoke first.

"Do you know why there was guards?"

"Oh, I don't know. Something about a gas leak." Chloe said while tapping her chin, not paying attention to Stacie's sudden gasp.

"Oh my…"

"What Stacie?" Chloe was confused by the brunette reaction.

"Chlo." Aubrey answered for Stacie. "A gas leak is something we use for an intervention. You know, when the guards break into the house to arrest criminals. It must-"

"Beca's not a criminal!"

"Chloe you don't know her, even if she was nice to you, she's a hacker so she's not completely clean." Stacie gently added.

Chloe started to pace. She thought about the situation for a moment. "Yeah. But I feel responsible for what happened. It's totally my fault."

"That's not true." Aubrey took the redhead hands in hers to stop her from hoping up and down. "How would the guards know she was hacking your father's card?"

"Yes." Stacie nodded. She saw how uncomfortable Chloe seemed. To be true, Stacie was also curious about the card too. Why would Chris hide something from his daughter? "But... We can search with you." The girls looked up at her with wide eyes. Stacie felt the need to develop a bit. "I mean, we can help right? The hacker must've some relations downtown. Do you know someone close to her?"

Aubrey was still shocked that the brunette volunteered for her to help their ginger friend - _to find a hacker, someone potentially criminal and dangerous!_ \- so she remained silent.

Chloe pondered her answer. "There is someone."

* * *

Jesse was slowly walking up the street. He was lost in his thoughts as Beca was missing. It was not usual. Of course, Beca was going in dangerous areas to find cyborg parts and she disconnected her ID often but it was almost 1pm and she often disappeared at night. Earlier, when he went to see her, the guards were surrounding her workshop and the tiny brunette was nowhere to be found.

Her ID was still unreachable. So something was wrong. And Jesse was worried.

He knew she was never alone and Kasmer was an incredible computer so she couldn't die even if she tried. But this situation was too stressful for him. He felt lost. He planned to spend the whole day with Beca and now he was just wandering without purpose in the streets.

A woman with blonde hair tapped on his shoulder.

"Hm, excuse me sir, can I talk to you for a moment?" She said while looking slightly embarrassed.

"Yeah, why for?" Jesse shrugged. _She's pretty, and I have the feeling she's not embarrassed very often with how she's twisting her hands._

The stranger smiled at him and showed the way. Jesse furrowed his eyebrows. Why would she want to move from the street?

"My friend over there needs your help to move a box."

The blonde joined two other women and Jesse thought he was too paranoid. Three women couldn't hurt him, right? Wearing his best goofy grin, he agreed and started to walk over the girls.

* * *

Someone knocked on the front door. Benji sighed and put the sword down. He would have to wait to practice this magic trick. Cautious, he looked through the spy hole and saw Jesse's familiar face. He was a bit surprised because his friend was supposed to spend the day with Beca.

He opened the door and saw three tall girls waiting in the corridor behind Jesse. One was wearing a hood and glasses - too suspicious for Benji's liking. One of the other was blonde and another had black hair. They got closer as he opened the door.

"Jesse careful!" Benji signaled to his friend to go inside quietly.

Jesse smiled slightly at his best friend who had a hand in his back pocket, where he always had a small gun. It was just the beginning of what he supposed would be a long reunion.

"It's alright Ben, they are on our side. Let us in, we need to talk." Jesse tried in his best soothing voice.

Benji's eyes darted from one girl to another. After what seemed to be a never ending minute, he nodded and stepped away from the door. Jesse invited the girls and they entered slowly. Chloe noted it was nicely furnished and very clean. _What a surprise from a man certainly leading a massive traffic of robot parts._

Benji motioned for the round table in the main room and they all sat down.

"Well, what's the point of this improvised meeting?" He started quite curious about why would Jesse come with three beautiful girls. Most importantly, how could he manage to have these girls in the first place. But he supposed it was just for business anyway.

Jesse cleared his throat "I think we need some introductions first."

Chloe removed her hood, glasses and mask. When Benji saw the red curls and smooth features, he gasped and stood up, his hand going instinctively to his back pocket.

"The heiress!"

"Ben I need you to stay calm, I'll explain." Jesse offered with his hands opened in a clear sign of peace.

The magician glared at him and slowly sat again. "This better be good because I'm taking no shit right now." He spat in a cold voice.

The girls were taken aback by the tone but said nothing. Stacie and Aubrey removed their masks too. Before Benji could talk, Aubrey interrupted.

"Okay, listen. I know you are wondering why the three most famous women of the country are in your house right now. For your security, we won't explain it to you. We're here to know where Beca is."

"How do you know her?" Benji's attitude was still defensive.

"I asked her to collect some private data and I would like to have it back. If you want us to sign a confidentiality paper, there is no problem. We are not here to judge you or anything. We just need your help." Chloe added quickly when she saw Benji tense a little.

Aubrey opened her mouth to protest but Benji spoke.

"That won't be necessary, I trust you." He supposed they were here for serious matters, the heiress wasn't coming downtown just to have a cup of tea or to go shopping. As long as they respected his private business and didnt spy on him, there was no problem in landing a hand and hopefully gain some gratitude he could use for his own benefit. He paused for a moment and added. "You can call me Benji."

"Fine, this is settled." Stacie said for the first time, earning the attention of everyone around the table. "Tell us what you know." She motioned for the magician to speak.

Benji returned a shy nod. "Great, but I don't clearly see how I'll be more useful than him to find Beca. He always know where she is." He added as he pointed the other boy.

Jesse gulped and rubbed his neck awkwardly. He took a deep breath to steady his voice.

"There was an intervention during the night and Beca is missing. Her screen is disconnected too. I searched already but no leads. So I was hoping you could track Kasmer."

"Who?" The redhead interrupt, a little lost.

Jesse and Benji exchanged a look. Jesse blinked twice and Benji nodded in return, to the blonde's annoyance.

"Look, I'm not really happy to be here, so if this ends quickly I would really appreciate it. If we are not telling each other what we know it's going to be very long." Aubrey noted in a stern tone.

"And painful, because this lady is not very patient and you don't want to mess with her." Stacie joked, winking at the blonde.

Stacie's lack of boundaries seemed to ease the boys and Chloe was glad. She was starting to feel like this was a race against time and Beca was slipping away a little bit more every minute passing by.

"So, Beca is not like everyone." Jesse started quietly.

Stacie's screen chimed. Benji glanced at her screen and saw a picture of the Black Bee. He gasped.

"Oh! Is she alive?!" His concerned tone made Aubrey and Chloe tilt their heads almost simultaneously.

Stacie gave him a wondering look but said the guards just found out who was the Black Bee, but the racer escaped. Jesse's features relaxed and Benji let out a loud exhale.

"Great news." His smile was genuine. He high fived Jesse.

Three pair of eyes settled on him as the women thought he was going crazy.

"Care to explain?" Chloe asked, some of her frustration leaking in her tone.

This day was not going as she expected. She was supposed to see Beca, take the card and confront her father to ask him why he would hide informations from her. She didn't expect to be seated with her two best friends, Beca's friend and a possible dealer to discuss about tracking someone named Kasmer.

"You know the Black Bee?" Stacie asked in order to clarify things.

Jesse glanced at Benji before answering.

"Beca is the Black Bee."

The shock on the women's faces was priceless.

"What?" Aubrey yelped. "Okay Chlo this was a bad idea let's get out of here." Chloe put a hand on her arm to prevent her from leaving the house straight away.

"I knew she had to be hot under en racing suit." Stacie's comment made Jesse and Benji look at her with wide eyes. "What? You think because I have boobs I cannot compete? Meet the Hunter guys." Stacie purred proudly.

"You got to be kidding me…" Benji mumbled but Stacie heard him and winked.

"Oh you don't know how serious I am." Stacie continued in her playful tone.

Aubrey rolled her eyes. "Please keep it in your pants Stace. We are not here to flirt, Beca is still missing guys." Everyone around the table sobered at her commanding tone. They all nodded except for the redhead. The blonde noted she seemed off. "Chlo? Chloe?"

"Oh… Ye-Yeah of course I agree." Chloe said without knowing what was the subject of their conversation. She was processing this new information. How could Beca, who seemed so small and fragile under her badass attitude, be one of the best racers in town?

"Fine." Aubrey sighed. "So Jesse, what were you suggesting?"

Jesse seemed to think for a moment. "First, I need to tell you something."

"This can't be good." Stacie muttered.

"I'm not sure this is a good idea since Beca prefer to keep it secret. But I need you to listen to me and not interrupt." He paused to eye the girls and once satisfied he continued. "So Beca is a bit different. Ma'am Beale, if you-"

"Call me Chloe."

"Okay." He gulped uneasily. "So, Beca has a... like a tracker on her."

"That's impossible." The redhead shook her head. "When your ID is out, no one can detect your position."

"Well, Chloe... You must have noticed that Beca is wearing gloves." The redhead nodded. Jesse's expression was full of sadness and they sensed the worse coming. "She's a mechanic of course but she is also hiding. A few years ago, she had an accident..."

Chloe's eyes widened in shock and started to get teary. She put a hand over her lips but no words came out. Stacie gasped and her mouth was open in shock. Only Aubrey stood still but her face hardened.

"Do you want the details? It's a bit-"

"Do tell." Aubrey interrupted quickly.

"Okay… So she lost various parts of her body, like uh, her right hand and left leg." Jesse glanced at Benji who nodded back. "She lost all her hearing and her vision, well, her eyes precisely were affected. The injuries were serious and she should have died on the impact. Luckily she survived long enough to be rescued and she spent some time in an hospital. She doesn't remember anything before this accident because her brain was certainly impacted too. To make her fonction like a normal human, the scientists put two prosthesis and connected it with her nervous system. They added cables, wires, micros and artificial retinas in her body but they couldn't connect it with her brain, apparently it was too damaged. So they added a computer in her head to coordinate everything. She named it Kasmer." He scratched his head. "Which lead me to believe we can track her computer to find her."

There was a silence. Even Benji who knew about Beca's condition was speechless. He never had the courage to ask Beca about it directly. Surprisingly, Stacie came to her senses first.

"Wow that's… a lot to take in."

Benji shook his head. Aubrey hadn't move during the story but her eyes had widened to the point Jesse thought were going to bulge. Chloe had her face hidden in her hands.

"So she... like… walk in the street with a computer in her brain?" Stacie asked and the boys nodded at the same time. "Incredible."

Only Stacie was having some genius admiration, the other girls were too shocked to process the whole story. After a while, Chloe lifted her chin and saw everyone looking back at her. She steadied her features. She remembered her father's words, to seem strong even if the situation was bad. A leader was someone the people looked up to, a model and a person who you can trust. A confident person. So she decided to move along and set her priority on Beca, pausing her invasive thoughts - such as how she had no idea who Beca really was, her mysterious side now exposed to a bright spotlight and she almost felt bad for discovering it by a third party.

"I don't care the methods, she can be in trouble and I think she left with the card because I asked her to make it her top priority. I feel responsible for what happened to her so I will do anything you ask to have her back safe. Are you sure we can find her through Kasmer?" Chloe asked Benji with a determined expression.

He nodded and they shared a silent agreement. They were in this together, even if they had different motives. The card didn't matter anymore - well, a bit but she couldn't bring herself to admit it.

After the three women informed their families they were doing a classified mission which required a lot of discretion, and that they shouldn't worry, they all disconnected their screens. It was common that the three heiresses were involved in confidential plans and they knew it would gain them some time before every guard in the city would search for them.

They went to Benji's basement where there was a bunker. They planned everything in a few hours and divided the tasks.

Jesse has been going out to buy food for a week and helped Benji with the tracking. Stacie was very useful too, she knew every tracking system and they gained a lot of time thanks to that. Aubrey had drawn a map of the country and classified every information or possible lead.

Chloe was helping everyone and her bubbly personality was cheering them. Surrounded by genius brains, she felt a bit useless so she took care that they slept and ate enough. Chloe spent most of her time thinking about what she would do to protect Beca when they'll find her. Because she had no doubt they'll find her.

Her thoughts drifted to the mechanic. Beca was a cyborg. A cyborg with a computer inside her head. And she was a racer - not an average one, she was the Black Bee. Who would have thought? The tiny brunette was definitely full of surprises.

After three days locked in the basement of Benji's house, they still had hope, even thought it was less enthusiastic than in the beginning. Suddenly Jesse squeaked and Benji almost fell from his chair.

"Are you crazy? You know I have cardiac problems and you-" He scolded but Jesse's unusually high pitched voice interrupted him.

"HERE!"

Aubrey and Chloe arrived, alerted by the fuss. Before Aubrey could open her mouth, Jesse exclaimed again.

"We found her! She is here!"


	5. Chapter 5

**As expected, a new chapter :) I might have some trouble keeping the update once a week because I decided to upload longer chapters. Bear with me!**

* * *

Beca flew as fast as she could. The guards would try to arrest her, but it was still dark and she had her black racer's suit on. It was difficult to spot her. Not once she glanced back to see if they were after her.

Kasmer was guiding her to a safe area. At the beginning, the adrenaline was pumping in her veins and she was focused on the ride. An hour after, she was cold, hungry and really tired. When she almost fell from the board, she decided to stop for the night. She had left the city already and was out of reach for the guards.

Kasmer located an old hangar surrounded by trees. She forced the door open and inspected inside. Even if it was rusty and very dirty, the roof would protect her from the rain and there was nobody in sight. The mechanic was a bit frightened that the roof would fall during her sleep but too exhausted to go anywhere else.

Sighing, Beca rubbed her eyes and found a place in a corner to curve in a ball. She immediately fell asleep on top of her board.

* * *

"Do ya think she's alive?"

"She's still breathing."

Beca was slowly waking up. Her body was sore. She heard different voices whispering around her. Her eyes remained shut as she tried to guess if they were hostile. From what Beca heard, they were only two. Cautiously, she cracked one eye open. She saw two women, as she suspected, talking to each other. They weren't paying attention to her so she opened her second eye to take in her surroundings. She was lying in a stretcher in what seemed to be an hospital. How did she get there? She would never go on her own to an hospital, for sure.

"Hey she ain't dead!" the blonde exclaimed. She had a strong accent but Beca couldn't quite define it.

Kasmer communicated pictures of a country called Australia but Beca shook her head internally. This wasn't the moment to be distracted. She tried to get up but her legs cramped so bad she fell forward - well she just fell off the bed with the graciousness of a cramped fish. Hopefully the other woman caught her and helped her back on the stretcher.

"Oww, easy tiger." The black skinned woman advised while sliding her arm around Beca's waist. "You were asleep during one day."

"What?" Beca yelped and her throat burnt, being too dry. "A whole day?" She asked in disbelief with a raspy voice. Her mind was melting from all the possibilities. Kasmer confirmed the woman's statement. Beca put a trembling hand to her temple, trying to soothe her spinning head.

"You need to hydrate a little bit and to stay still. You'll probably have a headache."

"Already have." The tiny brunette croaked. She closed her eyes and blinked a few times to focus. The ground seemed to spin and the next thing she knew she was bent in two and throwing up all the contents of her stomach - which wasn't much knowing she hadn't eaten in a day.

"Here." The blonde handed a bottle to Beca who looked at her gratefully. She swallowed the water slowly despite her body screaming to gulp the whole bottle. Kasmer coached her to take small sips and Beca felt better after a while. "You can call me Fat Amy and the black panther next to ya is CR." She introduced them and Beca handed the bottle back to her.

"You are doing great." CR commented as she watched Beca becoming less pale and more hydrated. "Get some rest, it's normal to react like this. You are in a safe zone and even though you feel sick 'cause of the radiations, you'll adapt soon."

Beca weakly nodded and lied down without complaining, helped by strong arms. The nausea was still present. She was beyond hungry but the thought of food made her insides twist uncomfortably so she decided to go along with the woman's orders. Once she settled down on the stretcher, Beca drifted away instantly.

* * *

To say she slept well was far from the truth. She felt knocked out, on the worst bad trip of her life. Radiations had damaged her body and she could only endure it. Sleep was the only thing she could do.

Kasmer was great, he provided her a much needed distraction. He started to describe her location when she was semi conscious. The Old Town, famous for the very high radiations levels. _Great, I'm going to be a full-time mutant now._ She didn't remember arriving there, so maybe her memory was affected too. Although her mind seemed pretty clear, she remembered Jesse, the races, her board, C... - her board!

Beca snapped her eyes open only to find all her personal effects - only a bag and her board - at the end of the stretcher. She breathed out, relieved. On reflex, she tugged on her gloves to make sure they were still here.

Kasmer analysed her body and reported a few minor scratches, along with some big cramps on her legs, thanks to a long trip on her board. Although her head was painful. Really painful. Every movement was making her nauseous. She knew she needed more water to recover but the idea alone was not making her feel well.

She took a deep breath. _At least I can breathe, that's a must._ Focusing on the air entering and leaving her lungs, she drifted away again.

* * *

When Beca woke up next time, the woman who helped her the first time was sitting on a chair close to the stretcher. The blonde introduced her as CR, if Kasmer's indications were correct.

"How are you feeling?" CR - _was that even a name?_ \- asked softly.

"Much better." Indeed, Beca didn't feel nauseous anymore and the jackhammer left her head, which was great.

"Good." CR smiled warmly. "Your body recovered very quickly, you are really impressive girl." The woman chuckled.

For a second, Beca panicked. Had they seen her cyborg parts? Was she captive of a mad scientist and part of an experiment? Kasmer dismissed her negative thoughts, detecting nothing but sincere admiration in the woman's voice. Beca decided to test the waters cautiously.

"Where am I?" Her throat was as dry as ever, due to both dehydration and apprehension.

"In an abandoned hospital, near the Old Town. There are some communities here, we regroup because the city rejected us." While speaking, CR handed her a glass and the brunette sipped it appreciatively. Kasmer agreed that this woman wasn't going to arm her. At least she wasn't lying and the water she was drinking wasn't poisoned. "We are chased by the guards but everyone here has a different story. I could talk to you all day about the occupants but it's better to ask them directly."

CR took the glass back and Beca nodded slowly, not clearly understanding what the woman was insinuating. She stood up and they looked at each other for a moment. CR chuckled low.

"How are you feeling?" The short haired woman said again. Beca described more precisely how she wasn't nauseous anymore, surprisingly. "The water clears the body from the radiations." She explained. "Wanna see around a bit?"

"Oh… Yes." Beca answered truthfully.

With some struggle and a few sarcastic remarks about Beca's weakness and smell - the mechanic already decided she liked the woman -, they made it to the door. Hopefully she didn't puke on CR, for the second time Kasmer reminded her. Swaying a bit, they crossed the corridor and ended up in a small living room.

Beca groaned as CR put her down on the couch. Her legs hurt like hell. The woman smiled at her and quickly disappeared. She came a few seconds later with two other women. They introduced themselves and gave Beca a bowl with some food. Despite her worry to eat something non edible, she smiled gratefully at the Asian woman named Lily.

"What are you doing here guys?" Beca finally asked as she emptied her bowl.

Denise sighed and moved her arm vaguely. "Well, we're not here by choice. We all have a personal history that leads us to this creepy forest." CR, next to Denise, snickered. "This zone is classified as non inhabited by the state so we not in danger here. We are all kinds of out-of-law."

Beca nodded. Fat Amy came in and saluted her with a weird sentence. It sounded funny and Beca didn't questioned it. One by one, they recounted their story. The tiny brunette laughed and cried as the night fell upon them. She couldn't hear Lily's whole story but what she heard scared her enough to not question it.

When CR asked about what she was doing before, Beca answered honestly and said she was a racer. One thing led to another, and she finally told them about her cyborg parts. To her surprise they didn't find them repulsive, quite the opposite actually. Fat Amy wanted to know if she could fly, Denise asked if it hurt but at the same time she was admitting how cool it was, Lily whispered something about weapons and massive explosion and Cynthia Rose - because Beca learned her full name! - showed her a tattoo she had on her shoulder to support cyborgs.

It was the first time she wasn't rejected, or at least didn't feel like it. With Jesse, it had always been different. He knew from the beginning about her state and never questioned it. He helped her without expecting something back. Although she owed him a lot, so she brought him some part of the money she made. It was some kind of unspoken agreement, Jesse would protect her and feed her and in exchange she would repair his robots and let him bet on her for the races. After some time, she accepted him as a friend, even if it was long granted for the boy. With him, she was allowed to be herself and could tell him her most precious secrets.

Sitting on the crappy couch in an abandoned hospital in what was potentially the worse place to stay, she felt safe. They weren't afraid and it calmed her. She felt at ease with this crazy band. And it was not usual for the non sociable person she was.

Beca spent one full day with these crazy girls and she had never felt like this. She liked them and she was part of their group, which was amazing. Kasmer was great, but spending time with girls who wouldn't judge her was truly liberating. For once, she was part of something. Feeling rested enough, Beca wanted to help around and joined the girls in their daily tasks. Her legs were still a bit sore but she wanted to show how grateful she was.

CR was going to fish in the river and Beca tagged along. The water was cooling her legs and she sighed happily. By the time the brunette caught one - tiny - fish, four bigger brothers were already in the basket. She grumbled and CR chuckled.

"You need to have a full concentration and control Beca. The fish is not going to come in your hands willingly"

"Yeah."

She went back to scanning the river, immobile. When a big fish came close to her, she jumped on it face first. She fought with the slipping creature for a solid twenty seconds and ended up with a slap of his tail in the face. The fish escaped and Beca cursed every water god she knew. CR was laughing heartily at her.

After a few other attempts - failures -, the grumpiness of the mechanic made the leader stop her movements and turn around to face her. She studied her for a moment before asking.

"What's on your mind, Lil' Bee?"

The nickname came from Amy, mocking her nickname and her name. Beca sighed but a small smile tugged her lips.

"Nothing." At CR's persistent glare, she rolled her eyes. "Well, I just remembered… I don't want Jesse and Benji to worry about me."

"You wanna go back?"

"Of course not!" She scoffed. With her current status, going back in the city was impossible. "But I still have Chloe's card, so she might be worried too. Not that I'm assuming she's missing me, I just have the information she needed rather quickly."

Beca took a small intake of air, a little out of breath. She hadn't realized she was speaking too fast. She only got a raised eyebrow in return.

"Chloe Beale's super confidential card." She made herself clear, tugging at her ear spike.

"Oh! How come you have this?!"

Beca came out of the water and shifted on her feet, seeing CR preparing to leave too.

"Hm, she asked me to hack? Errr… Access to the data because… I don't really know why but she needed it as fast as possible so I put some projects on hold to have a - anyway the problem is that I was supposed to give it back to her and I took the card with me as I left. I'm such a dummy, she'll never trust me now. It was my only real job and I couldn't finish, so-"

"Wow, slow down girl. Do you know what's on the card?" CR put her hands in front of her as if she could slow the massive torrent of informations Beca's mouth was currently delivering.

Beca stopped her rant, mouth still open and jaw feeling numb.

"Uh… no?" It sounded more like a question and CR shrugged.

"Start where you can girl. If this is just some pictures about her first birthday cake, you have nothing to worry about."

She turn her back and put one last fish in the basket, leaving Beca ponder her words. Of course it was supposed to be a secret but now, out of the city and far from Chloe, no one would resent her choice. She helped CR to carry the basket back to the camp, then she went for a walk in the woods around the hospital. Her legs were feeling much better now.

She sat on the grass and checked her left leg. Nothing was out of place so she went back to walking around, Chloe's card still in mind. Was she allowed to see the card? Or was it a violation of the law and she'd be punished?

After a lot of pacing, she slipped her hand in her pocket and put the card above the screen on her forearm.

She was instantly filled with files, photos and reports. All about the Beale's heiress. She saw one picture with the redhead fast asleep on a bench in a park. Another one with her walking in a fancy corridor. In a shop. In the palace armory. Cooking breakfast. At a party. In her bedroom.

Beca felt nauseous. She put a hand on the nearby tree for support. She had an internal debate with her favorite computer about whether she was going to throw up or not. She really felt like it but Kasmer claimed it was just mental and not worse of puking. Icing her features and taking a deep breath, she looked up to see the top of the trees and some stars peaking through. Only then the brunette realized it was dark outside. Infrared vision seemed so natural to her.

She focused back on the data. This was a new kind of stalking, it was borderline creepy. _Who was taking these pictures?_ Kasmer, scanning every document, highlighted one sentence.

'On the order of Christopher Beale.'

Beca's breath hitched. Her own father. It was insane. The tiny brunette sat down. It was too much to handle. Kasmer sent any information he could find. It was something like a timetable. Chloe's schedule, very precise and detailed. However, the last files was different. It looked like a contract. And a research program about immortal cells.

It took Beca a minute to dot the clues. The contract was between a professional headhunter and Christopher Beale. The research was about the discovery a process that could make someone immortal.

Her heart was hammering in her chest. _That means… Christopher Beale is trying to get immortal… And to get rid of his daughter, Chloe Beale!_

Beca put her head in her hands, releasing a shaky sigh. Chloe was in great danger right now, and she didn't know it. The brunette's head shot up at the realization. She was the only one to have the card, also the only one to know about it.

She raised her left arm hurriedly to write a message but her screen was disconnected.

"Shit!" She hissed between gritted teeth.

Beca paced again, twisting her ear spike. Chloe was unaware of the situation and she was in danger. She should send her message. But at the same time it was really risky, she could be discovered by the guards. The other girls in the camp were also wanted and she didn't want to risk their safe place.

She could also go and protect Chloe. But was unlikely to be a good thing to do. How would she enter the city again? The guards knew her identity and she was an easy target.

She looked down at her hands, realizing she hadn't been wearing gloves since the fishing session. Her right hand shone in the dark. A perfect alliance of titanium and aluminum, strong but light. She wiggled her fingers and admired the wires moving.

She never achieved something on her own. She survived by miracle at the accident and from then, she didn't do anything worth remembering. Saving Chloe Beale, on the other hand, was a life accomplishment itself. The redhead was the heiress and had a very promising life ahead. Beca couldn't forgive herself if something happened to her. Not matter how many parts she would lose, she was going to find Chloe and hand her the card herself.

Kasmer cheered her all the way to the camp where she had her board.

* * *

"Where do ya think you're going, Lil' Bee?"

Beca turned around hearing Fat Amy's voice. She had her racing suit on and her board strapped on her back but she wasn't really planning to leave without saying goodbye - was she?

"I made my choice." All the girls in the hall were coming around to hear what the conversation was about. "I need to go back."

"Is it because of the card?" CR was quick to ask before Beca flew away.

The brunette nodded back and filled them with what she had discovered. Except the part where she discovered who was behind this. She felt like this was more than a confidential information, it was personal. So she sum it up to Chloe being in danger by certain people wanting her dead.

"And you think you're going alone?" CR simply continued as she took her coat.

"What do you mean?" Beca frowned, trying to calm her nerves by tugging lightly on her ear.

"I mean I'm sick of staying in this hospital, getting more intoxicated everyday and doing nothing of my life. If your girl needs help, I'll go with you." CR stated while crossing her arms. Denise silently agreed and moved to equip herself too.

"Yeah shorty, ya can't get rid of us now." Amy joked and the brunette cracked a genuine smile. Even Lily sent a small nod in her direction.

Denise stepped forward and put a reassuring hand on Beca's shoulder. "We all had a pleasurable time on this lovely camp, but it's time to move on for us. It's been months and I think we are safe to return in urban areas now."

Beca took in the determination of the girls facing her. They all had a rough time, but they stuck together and survived. She couldn't deny that she'll need help to accomplish her task. She paced for a moment, weighing her options.

"Come on Lil' Bee, let us have some fun with you."

"You don't realize how much in trouble we are going to be." Beca smirked at the boisterous blonde.

"No problem, if the guards come, I'll smash them with my-"

"Great!" CR interrupted. "We'll follow you Beca." She gently elbowed Amy in the ribs as she passed by.

* * *

Chloe screamed. She couldn't contain her excitement anymore. They knew where Beca was. Stacie put her little finger in her ear as if she was deaf.

"Damn Chlo, was that necessary?" She asked with a pout. The redhead glared at her but before she retort, Aubrey stern voice cut her short.

"Guys."

Her serious tone was doing wonders. They fell silent and listened to what the blonde had to say.

"I think the signal isn't accurate, have you seen from where it came?" She pointed at the area on the computer screen.

Benji realized first. "The Old Town?!" He shook his head, incredulous. "You're right, she can't be there."

"How would you know? This area is classified as dangerous but no one has been there in centuries, the radiations must've decreased." Jesse countered.

"Because nobody came back alive or with a functional brain to prove that." Benji replied, proud of his reasoning.

"Well, Jesse is right." Stacie cleared her throat as their heads turned to look at her. "I saw some data about radiations a while ago and, according to the numbers, the atmosphere should be almost clean. But as you said Benji, no one went there to witness it."

"So that means Beca is there?" Chloe sounded hopeful.

Stacie slowly nodded and Benji shrugged, showing his ignorance.

"We can try. That's the only lead we have here." Jesse added as Aubrey looked conflicted. "There is only one way to know."

"We don't have another choice." The blonde admitted, defeated.

Chloe's bubbly personality appeared as she clapped excitedly in her hands. "Let's go!"

They shared a laugh, feeling a bit relieved. Soon, they packed the necessary and Benji put the signal on a card. Once all of them had the signal printed on their screens, he destroyed the card.

The group chose to take one of Benji's car to go faster. The girls put their hoods and sunglasses on to be more discreet. Benji started the magnetic car and exited his garage. The beginning of the ride was silent even if the excitement was present. Stacie took the opportunity to put a hand on Benji's forearm.

"You know we should all exchange our numbers in case we ar-" Her voice died in her throat as Benji came to an abrupt stop.

In front of them, the guards were posted around the gate and on the road to control every vehicle going out of the city. So much for the discreet escape. If they recognized Chloe, the guards would assume she was kidnapped. _And that means we can't find Beca!_ The heiress thought.

"Oh my God, what do we do?" Jesse whispered as if the guards could hear.

"Girls, your masks." Aubrey handed Chloe and Stacie the masks they had when they arrived at Benji's. They put the sunglasses away, it was even more suspicious. "Now we can pray they won't scan us."

Jesse gulped and shifted on his seat. He didn't know how to handle stressful situations and this was quite a big one.

Chloe, seated between Jesse and Aubrey at the back, saw Jesse's fidgety hands and put a calming hand above his. "Hey, breathe." She said softly.

Jesse nodded and offered a kind smile, more to reassure himself than for the redhead.

A guard came to Benji's door and knocked. After the magician opened the window, the guard started talking.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Chicago and I have been instructed to control your car for a drug verification." His speech was monotone, it must've been the hundredth time he said that today. "Sir, I'm going to ask you to step out of your vehicle."

Benji seemed surprised and started to ramble a pathetic excuse. Aubrey wanted to slap the magician immediately but it wasn't the right moment. This was even more suspicious.

"Well, you see, my step sister here gave me her dog when she left for Seattle, but I wasn't able to take care of him as I wanted." While he was speaking, Chicago rounded the car with what seemed to be a drug detector. But Benji knew it wasn't. This was an screen identifier, a hand gadget the guards use to confirm someone's identity.

Benji feared it would detect the heiress so he continued to ramble in case it could distract him. His suspicions were proven right when the gadget chimed in the guard's hands. He stood straight and went to take the radio in his pocket but Benji reacted fast. He extended his leg and hit the radio with as much force as he could.

The radio flew for a few meters and crashed on the ground. Chicago gave him an angry scowl.

"You piece of shit, you have no right to detain the heiress!" He seethed and pounced at the curly boy.

However, he never touched him. Seeing the situation going as bad as it could, Stacie had opened the passenger's door while she jumped on the driver's seat. She took the driving gear in her left hand and made a U turn.

"Move! Move!" Stacie yelled. Inside the car, they all clung to something or someone as Stacie drove like a pilot. She grabbed Benji by the collar and pulled him inside as she accelerated.

The action was so quick, Chicago was left alone in a few seconds. He recovered fast and jumped on his magnetic motorcycle, calling for renforts.

Benji finally put his two legs inside the car and closed the door.

"What the fuck do you think you are doing Stacie! You told me you were the Hunter but this isn't a race!" His tone was terrified.

Instead of responding, Stacie turned sharply to avoid a pedestrian.

"I swear to God Stace, if you do this one more time, I am seriously going to puke." Aubrey warned in a high pitched voice, her teeth clenched really hard. Chloe snapped her head to look at her best friend, knowing she wasn't joking when she mentioned something about vomit projections.

So, just to be cautious, she gripped Jesse's shoulder tighter and put some distance between her and the blonde.

"Sorry love, we don't have a lot of options and you're not going to like it." Stacie glanced at the rear-view mirror, seeing Aubrey getting paler. "We have some company."

Three guards vehicles, including Chicago, were now glued to them, trying to catch up. Stacie slalomed in the traffic, efficiently losing one of the guards.

"We need to go through that gate." She stated, completely focused on the road.

"How?! It was packed with guards!" Benji clenched the edges of his seat, not comfortable with the whole situation.

"Not anymore." Jesse exclaimed as he saw half of the guards leaving the gate.

"They are coming after us!" Chloe gasped loudly. "Go Stace!"

Jesse glanced at the redhead, perplexed. He had always thought she was grounded and hoped she was going to refrain Stacie. So much for his guessing skills.

Shots could be heard as they headed straight to the gate, now clean of the guards.

"What the hell! We are not drug dealers!" Aubrey said through gritted teeth. "They need Chloe alive!"

A bullet destroyed the passenger's window and Benji screamed. Stacie was distracted for a second when she saw blood leaking down the boy's arm.

"Stace!" Chloe yelled as she saw a car coming in front of them. At the back, they clung to each other in despair.

Stacie turned the wheel abruptly and avoided the impact with the other vehicle. She saw the guards coming to them. _They left the gate to stop us, we have a chance!_ She realized. A smirk stretched her lips. She was one of the best pilots of the country and a few guards was nothing to her.

She dived under the cars - a move she picked up from the Black Bee, well Beca - and slalomed fast. As she headed straight for the gate, another piercing shot was heard. She clenched her teeth but continued. Only a few feet away from the gate, a motorcycle stopped in front of them. In a flash she recognized Chicago, the guard who stopped them.

They were too close to avoid the collision now. Stacie prayed silently to be alive after this collision. However, as they got closer, a shot rung in the habitacle of Benji's car and the moto fell in front of them, and Stacie flew above it easily.

They made it through the gate full speed. Stacie drove for a few minutes and parked in a secluded area. The car was making weird sounds, probably more damaged by the high-speed pursuit than she realized. She breathed out and turned around to see the state of her friends.

Benji's pale looking face caught her attention immediately.

"Oh my God, Ben! You've been shot!" Stacie's frightened tone changed when she realized he had a gun in his unharmed hand. "And you shot Chicago's bike! The stabilizer!" She threw her arms around the neck of the curly boy. "You really have a wicked aim!"

The brunette voice was dripping with admiration and it made Benji chuckle. The sound of a door opening made them whip their heads to the backseat. Aubrey stumbled out of the car and fell on her knees. Her whole body was shaking and for a second Stacie feared she was about to puke. When she heard a wet laugh she sighed in relief.

"That was… Intense." Chloe whispered, gripping Jesse's arm like a leech.

Jesse nodded but his body was as still as a statue. He really thought this was the last ride of his life. Slowly, Chloe's grip loosened and she got out of the car to check on Aubrey. Turns out, no one was injured, except for Benji. As Stacie inspected his arm, the wound was not as deep as they feared and she could extract the bullet with minor difficulties. Benji complained non stop about the pain but when Stacie kissed his cheek after cleaning the wound, he was speechless for a while.

Half an hour after they crossed the gate, they had recovered from what was one of the wildest car ride of their lives. They were seated in the car silently, Benji's arm wrapped with his own shirt.

"So…" Chloe cleared her throat awkwardly. "Shall we continue?"

They nodded and Benji checked the signal.

"Holy shit!" He exclaimed.

"What?" Aubrey asked, still annoyed by the extremely dangerous episode Stacie made them go through, her stomach was too sensitive for this.

"Hm… The signal is, uh, not where it used to be…" He stuttered.

Impatient, Chloe checked her own screen. Her jaw slacked immediately. In a hurry, she exited the car and scanned the area. Seeing Chloe's frenetic search, they all looked at the signal.

The screen showed their position in blue, and Kasmer's location in red. Right now, the two signals were at the same place.

"How's that possible?" Jesse voiced their common disbelief.

* * *

Beca was slightly regretting her decision. Just a little.

When she agreed to have some help, she didn't expect Amy to rush in the garage and come back with a yellow bus. A huge, ugly, _yellow_ bus. She tried to reason Amy but the blonde wasn't getting it - "sometimes it's easier to go through the main gate and crush 'em all, Lil' Bee" were her words.

So she reluctantly sat on the front row, wondering how they could pass the gate in this very discreet vehicle. Kasmer was also having some doubts about it - which was not helping Beca's confidence.

As Amy was heading to the gate of the city, Beca saw a car driving way too fast with broken windows, bullet impacts on the sides and a light off on the left. _Must've been a district fight, they're driving like guards could come at any moment._ It reminded her she was now an A-list criminal. It seemed crazy to her. She didn't do anything wrong, except competing in illegal races but that didn't make her a bad person.

"Amy stop!" Denise exclaimed as they neared the entrance. "The gate is full of guards."

"Yeah, I wonder what happened here, that's a mess." CR agreed.

The gate was surrounded by guards, vehicles and they blocked the traffic. Kasmer spotted a broken motorbike, lying down at the center of the gate. Guards were fumbling around, not caring about the growing waiting line on the two sides.

Amy had stopped the bus on the middle of the road and people around were getting impatient.

"You better move Amy." CR put a hand on her shoulder to urge her.

Lily started to pray in a foreign language and Beca chose to ignore her, feeling rather uncomfortable. Amy parked on another street next to the door. She turned around to face the girls with a deadly serious expression on her face. "I could go in and-"

"Not today Amy." CR interrupted politely. "You've seen it like me, no one is crossing this door."

Beca thought in silence of another solution.

"If nobody is going in, it means nobody is going out too. So Chloe isn't moving. We just need to get in." Denise added.

They nodded and went silent for a moment, the soft sound of Lily's prayers could be heard.

"Any ideas?" CR asked and glared at Amy when she opened her mouth. "Except you, Amy."

The blonde looked down while grumbling something along with "Fat", "crushed" and "explosion". CR sighed. Beca realized it was the only sound in the bus, Lily had fallen silent. The Asian was already looking at her expectantly when she turned her head.

"I have an idea." She said quietly.


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey guys! This chapter may contain more emotional stuff, just to warn you :) Also I apologize in advance for the scent...**

* * *

Lily's idea was quite odorant. It smelt really bad, and even if Beca was used to smelly oils wit her job, she had almost pinched her nose to descend the steps. Hopefully, Kasmer cut out her nasal sensors.

"Smells worse than a dingo fart." Fat Amy scrunched her face and pinched her nose.

"Damn true." CR agreed, even though she had never seen a dingo in her life.

Lily was guiding them through the underground maze of the sewer system. There was a small path along the wall so they could walk above the waste water. Denise stepped on something soft and quickly walked away, cursing about how disgusting it was. CR chuckled and got a slap on her arm in return. It made Beca internally smile. They were fun to be around, even if the circumstances weren't great. Even if CR was carrying an air rifle on her shoulder, she was joking about a swimming race in the sewer. They were like a bunch of children finally allowed to play outside, bouncing and always laughing, testing the limits of what they could do.

Kasmer signaled an interference. Beca stopped immediately and looked up. Of course, there was nothing to see. Amy almost bumped into her.

"Watch out midget! I don't wanna be stuck here foreve-"

"Shh." Beca raised a hand and saw Lily turning around a few feet away. "We crossed the wall." She stated quietly.

Lily had a small smile and gestured for them to continue.

"I don't feel any different." Amy shrugged and followed the Asian.

Kasmer was slowly mapping the area above them, now that they were inside the magnetic field. The palace was a three hours walk away and they should rest a bit before going inside. They had been walking for a while already.

 _Maybe I should continue alone, it's going to be tough._ Kasmer didn't want the other girls to be hurt but at the same time he pleaded the brunette to stick with them. _Yeah I know. Together we're stronger. But just the two of us isn't enough? We could discreetly walk away and lose them in the sewer system. Then, we could go to the palace and break some door to find Chloe. It would be quicker._ Kasmer argued back, he conceded they would surely be faster but nobody could assist her if she was caught.

"Where to, Little Bee?" CR pulled her out of her inside dialogue.

"Hum." The brunette cleared her throat, wondering how long she had been staring at the muddy waters. "The palace. 'Cause it's where Chloe lives and spends most her time. But it is three hours away."

CR nodded. "We'll rest a bit first then." She gestured to a small cavity and opened her bag to pass the blankets.

* * *

"I can't believe it."

They had exited Benji's car as soon as they saw the signal. They were now looking around but obviously Beca wasn't here. They were parked on an empty field and even if it was dark, there was nowhere to hide.

"This signal seems like a big joke to me." Aubrey growled. "We're wasting our time."

Benji sighed. He was starting to believe it too. The signal was right here. He checked his arm again and the red point had moved a bit. It was going straight to the wall of the city. He frowned. _Something isn't right._

"Wait." Stacie was looking at her screen too. "The signal is moving." She looked up but the night sky was empty. Then she jumped. "I get it!" She squealed and pointed at the ground.

Jesse rolled his eyes - an habit he got from Beca. "Okay, let's go home, this chick is going crazy."

"The sewer system!" Stacie and Chloe exclaimed in unisson, big smiles stretching their faces.

Chloe had quickly caught up on her friend's realization. But she wondered how could Beca know about this system.

"Does your hacker friend know how to crack the palace secret code?" Aubrey wondered out loud, voicing Chloe's question.

Jesse shook his head. "She wishes. She tried but to no avail, Kasmer isn't powerful enough."

"So how could she enter? This is like, the most protected exit road for the palace. Only the closest persons to the king are aware of it." Aubrey pondered.

Benji shrugged. "She's full of surprises. So I suppose we're following her in the underground?" His face contorted in disgust.

They went silent, thinking about this idea. Aubrey's lips were thinly sealed as she let out a grunt. Her stomach was delicate and she doubted she would be able to make it alive. _For the sake of my digestive organs, please let's not go there._

"I'm in." Chloe stated. "I won't wait outside if she came back for me."

"Wait." Aubrey jumped in, a bit too fast and sounding desperate. "Something is strange." At Chloe's raised eyebrow, she continued. "Think about it! You warned your family with a message and we've only been out for like, three days! Why would the guards tried to arrest you at all cost? Because, if you don't remember it, they tried to kill you!"

"Us." Stacie rectified, earning a glare from the blonde. "But yes this is insane."

"The card…" Chloe whispered. Then she spoke louder. "My dad think I have the card. Whatever he put inside, he don't want anyone to find out and he's ready to kill anyone to have it back. Including me."

"Beca has the card." Jesse stated as he leaned on the car next to Benji.

Aubrey shot him a confused look. "How would you know?"

"Easy." He shrugged nonchalantly with a side grin. "The guards must've search in her workshop. And even if Beca hid it, they would've found the card. So I guess Beca has it with her."

"You're right." Benji nodded in agreement. "It makes sense, they are still looking for her anyway." He motioned for the car. "What should we do now?"

"Well, I suppose we can leave the car here." Stacie said in a sheepish tone. She smiled innocently at Benji's death glare. She could see the car was good for the junkyard. "Come on, it's not like we could go underground with it."

"Fair enough." Aubrey dismissed their discussion with a wave of her hand, secretly relieved to be out of the car and walking for the moment. "Chlo, lead the way."

* * *

Beca turned around on the ground. Since they stopped - and it was only ten minutes ago -, she couldn't rest properly. _This is ridiculous. I should go now, we are wasting precious time and Chloe can be killed at any moment._ Kasmer didn't respond, too busy scanning her cyborg parts. Once he finished, he reported one screw not tightened enough. Sighing, Beca removed her glove and spotted the said screw. She had a wrench hidden inside her right hand, ready to use. She opened the small compartment and started to turn the screw on her right hand.

Looking around, she saw CR and Denise sharing a blanket, Fat Amy softly snoring and Lily standing up against the wall, eyes closed. A chill went down her spine. This girl was absolutely terrifying for Beca, as she was supposed it was her normal sleeping position.

Kasmer approved the newly tightened screw and went back to scanning the area. Lily opened her eyes and stared at Beca, like she knew the brunette was considering to escape alone. Beca stared back at her for a second before her eyes opened wide. Kasmer had detected movement less than a kilometer away. Five people at least.

Lily glanced at the tunnel they came from "They found us." She said quietly but in the silent underground, Beca understood her perfectly.

The brunette stood up and woke up the others, asking them to be silent and showing her screen which was displaying the area and the five dots coming at them. They exchanged a look and nodded in silent agreement. They needed to move fast.

Beca took the lead and went straight to the palace. They made it in two hours and half, distancing the guards coming for them, certainly lost in the maze. They arrived in front of a security door.

"Tell me you have the code to enter Lil' Bee." Fat Amy said, out of breath. Beca had short legs but she knew how to powerwalk. And she was not used to be exercising for longer than fifteen minutes so this was considered as extreme cardio to her.

"Actually…" Beca's voice trailed off. She tried to crack the palace code twice but never succeeded.

"We're stuck here if you don't Beca." CR tightened her grip on the air rifle she carried.

A bip came from behind the door and the girls froze. Beca knew this bip too well, it was the same that made her flew from her home less than four days ago. She felt like so many things had happened in the meantime. Kasmer registered Amy saying "Oh shit!" and the door opened, five guards standing on the other side. _Fuck I thought we lost them in the sewer system..._

"Run!" CR yelled and took off, yanking Denise with her. Lily had already disappeared.

The guards realized quickly who was in front of them - the Black Bee, someone to arrest at all costs - and start to chase them. Well, Beca and Amy were frozen in place so only two guards ran after CR and Denise.

When a guard stepped forward and gripped her shoulder to make her fall to her knees, Beca came back to her senses and punched him in the face. With her gloves on, the guard had no idea what hit him but the metallic hand knocked him unconscious.

Fat Amy let out a war cry and jumped on the closest guard - literally on top of him. They fell on the ground with a lot of grunts and high pitched curses. The last guard assessed the situation and took his taser out of his belt. Seeing this, Beca wanted to run away but the hand-to-hand combat on the ground was blocking the only way out. Kasmer sensed an attack and the good reflexes of the brunette were enough to block the guard's arm before the impact.

She avoided the taser and kicked him on the knee. The guard winced in pain but managed to take a tight grip on Beca's wrist and yanked her forward. Not expecting it, the brunette lost her balance and stumbled right into the guard's arms. Using his taller height, he lifted his knee to struck her in the belly. The sudden impact made all the air leave Beca's lungs and her legs gave up.

The last thing she felt was the cold metal of the taser on her neck before she fainted.

* * *

The constant buzz in her head was driving her insane. Kasmer was semi functional, the aftershock of the taser was too violent and the electricity had weakened her cyborg system. He was constantly sending her alert signals, but there was nothing she could really do.

Finding the strength to open her eyes, she was met with white. She closed them immediately, cursing Kasmer internally. It was not the moment to have color bug. She counted to three and reopened them slowly. The room she was in was still white, but this time Beca understood why. She was in jail. The bars on the small opening of the door were a dead giveaway.

Beca groaned and she felt weak. Her body protested against the lack of water. She managed to sit on the bed and took her surroundings. She was in a small - _fucking white_ \- prison cell with only the bed she was on. She noticed they removed her gloves. Inspecting her hand, she saw one of the fingers was dislocated. The wires were intact hopefully. She cautiously put it back and leaned her back to the wall.

She rubbed her temples as her insides were protesting. The color of the room was too aggressive for her. Just as she was considering to get some sleep, she heard footsteps on the other side of the door. She straightened herself and waited for the door to open. Apparently, it was just two guards patrolling as she overheard their discussion.

"... back there. I swear, that bitch was biting my ear! How could I bleed here anyway?"

"Don't be grumpy. It was the first time in months you get to be horizontal with a woman, what are you complaining about, Bumper?"

"I was not complaining about this and you know why this is…"

Beca couldn't hear the voices anymore. But their conversation had rung a bell in her mind. _Fat Amy was with me! They must've gotten her too. I hope CR and Denise escaped… and Lily too even if she disappeared long before it started._ Kasmer signaled he needed to reboot. Groaning in pain - was that only sore muscles she was feeling right now? -, she laid back on the bed and closed her eyes. It should be done in less than an hour and she prayed it could make the humming go away.

* * *

Kasmer woke her up, signaling the end of the reboot. This time, she woke up feeling rested. Her head was not buzzing anymore and she had no cramps. Also, she wasn't in jail anymore. The sterilized air was slightly making her dizzy. She hated hospitals. She had a disturbing feeling of deja-vu, waking up in an unknown place.

"Glad to see you are awake Rebecca."

The voice was coming from her right side. She blinked twice to adjust to the blinding light from the neon. A man was perched above her with a lab coat and a clipboard. He was smiling down at her, as if they were long time friends.

"Not my name." Beca was surprised when her own voice wasn't too raspy.

The man tilted his head, but waited for her to continue. _I'm not going to introduce myself if this is what you're waiting for._ Kasmer gave her a detailed report about what they had done to her. Apparently, the man had patched her up and gave her some tonic. This was strange. She was a cyborg and nobody had ever helped her this way if they didn't want something in return. She wanted to know what to expect.

"Who are you?" She said while examining his face to detect any lies from him.

He seemed like a kind man, with his beard and his salt and pepper curly hair. He deflated in his seat a little and Beca frowned. _Why is he looking disappointed? Wait, was it disappointment or annoyance?_

"My name is Ben, I was hoping you would remember me." He added almost pleading her. _Yeah, that was disappointment. Always trust your first instinct._

Beca shook her head but continued her investigation. "Why I am here?"

Ben cleared his throat and hesitated. "Well… You are now in the palace lab's section. I fixed some of your cyborg parts and gave you a little boost to feel better."

Beca raised her hand to touch her ear spike and realized she had a needle in her forearm. She let her arm fall back on the hospital bed.

"You haven't answered my question." She pointed out, not feeling very patient but she couldn't do much except being nice and fish some informations.

They stared at each other, the tension building. Beca found his features slightly familiar, as if they had already met. He slowly nodded.

"Rebecca…"

"This is still not my name." She cut him off, not bothering to be polite.

He shrank away from her intense glare. His muteness angered Beca, she had other things more urgent to do.

"Now if you excuse me, I have to go." She sat up and froze entirely when he stood up.

"You are going nowhere. Not when I finally get you back." He spoke in a stern tone.

"What the fuck does that mean?" She forced herself to maintain her voice level quite low. "I don't know you!"

"Yes you do Rebecca. Please let me explain." He put a reassuring hand on her shoulder but she shrugged him off, still pissed by the name.

"You have one minute." Beca herself was surprised by how she was tolerant. He was a total stranger to her and nobody was allowed to touch her without permission. Even Jesse was cautious when it came to physical contact.

"So you don't possibly remember it, but we… met before your accident." At this, he had Beca's full attention on him. She yearned to know who she had been before her accident. "In reality, it wasn't an accident."

Beca narrowed her eyes on him and her body tensed. Kasmer signaled he wasn't lying. His face was not showing his emotions but his eyes were full of sadness and an hint of something Beca couldn't quite decipher. He waited until the brunette nodded for him to continue.

"You were part of an experiment. And there was a little problem with the calcu-"

"What were you working on?" Beca interrupted harshly.

She had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach, something was left out of his speech and she was afraid to discover what it was. Her heart beat faster. Ben took a deep breath and set down his clipboard on the side of the small nightstand.

"Immortal cells."

The rest of his phrase was lost on Beca. Kasmer assaulted her mind with the data on Chloe's card. All the research to be immortal. They tested in vitro first, then on small mouses and adapted the treatment to humans. So many people gave their lives to this experiment.

It dawned on her like a tornado. She had been part of this experiment. Her eyes fell on her leg, visible under the hospital gown - when had she changed into this? This was the result of a failed experiment. _She_ was the result of a failed experiment. There had never been an accident.

"What was my number?" She asked, cutting him again, not listening to his explanations.

Ben raised an eyebrow, surprised. "Uh, 22X-8."

Kasmer pointed the file among the others. She read it and slowly, she felt tears roll down her cheeks. This was one of the first human experiments. It was her file. Her life. _Rebecca Mitchell_. Daughter of Ben and Mia Mitchell. She was injected with the temporary immortal serum and not two minutes after, her body had started to mutate and tumors appeared. Her heart strained from the effort it was requiring. To stop the development, they tried to slow her blood flow but to no avail. The internal damage was irreversible. In last resort, they injected an anti-growth serum and it worked. However, they had to cut her hand and leg because it was in a bad shape and it wasn't responding to any stimulations, apparently bones and nerves were affected. The description of the events ended here, with no more details.

What about her brain? Her eyes? Her ears? She had been so damaged by this experiment and there was barely two lines on the file to mention it. This experiment was so cruel, she was so young when it happened. Tears tracks were appearing on her face with how much she cried.

Beca looked up and finally caught the name on his lab coat. Dr Mitchell. Even without Kasmer, she linked two and two together. _Ben Mitchell. This man is my father._ Angry tears succeeded to the hurt ones.

"How could you! Use your own daughter to these mad experiments?!" Beca yelled without restrictions. In an instant, all her pain had morphed into a furious rampage. She wanted to break every object near her, slam the chair on the wall, burn all the sheets in the lab, maybe cause some explosion - yeah, destroying this place was a fucking great idea.

He tried to soothe her. "Rebecca…"

Her rage broke free from her will. "Enough!" She slammed her hand on the nightstand with so much force it cracked. Ben took a step back, frightened. "How dare you call me like that! You are responsible for my state! Didn't you care for me?! All these years I spent ashamed of myself, too afraid to show my body, alone with a fucking computer inside my brain!" She exploded. Her voice raised at the end of her sentence, not caring if she was loud.

Ben was speechless once again, too afraid to speak. He could see the internal battle on Beca's face. Inside, Kasmer had to calm the brunette impulsive nature and convince her not jump at the man's throat. Mostly, Kasmer was trying to distract her, she had other things to do, like find Chloe, even though she had been part of the experiment and it was just a normal reaction to want to kill the man who put her in this state.

Slowly, Beca opened her hands and took a deep breath. Closing her eyes, her features relaxed but the tension didn't leave her body. The man saw this and took the opportunity to search in the drawers for a calming serum.

Beca sensed the movement and snapped her eyes open. Full of fury, they landed on her father's hand, holding a needle.

"Don't you dare!" She removed the one in her arm and faced him.

"Trust me Rebecca, I'm doing this for your own good." He reasoned weakly. "I-I do care about you."

"You never have and never will! Don't say you are my father, I never had one! Where were you when I was starving downtown, sleeping between trash cans in a cold alley at night? Was I just an experiment to you or you took pity on me? Did you care once in my life for my well being? I doubt it. It was convenient for your work, having the perfect guinea pig in your. Own. Family!" Every sentence she was getting closer to him and she spat the last three words in his face.

Ben had collided with the wall and was trapped between the furniture and his daughter's death glare. Panicked, he dropped the needle and it crashed on the ground with a glass shattering sound. Neither moved for a few seconds and the silence was deafening.

 _I'm done here._ Kasmer agreed and showed her where the exit was. With one last glare and a sharp "hope I won't see you ever again", Beca left the room. _What a nerve wracking awakening._ The blood was still pumping fast in her veins and she was feeling dizzy as she wandered in the white corridors. She sniffed and cleaned her face with her human hand.

While she had hoped to meet someone who knew about her past, reality was so much harder. It was so easy to believe her parents had died during some accident that got her half robot. So easy to believe she was an abandoned child, too inhuman to be part of the society or too expensive for a family to afford.

Knowing the truth made all her dreams seem idyllic. She was abandoned but not for these reasons. Her father had made experiments on her, as if she was some object he could dispose when he liked it. Just to dump her on the streets as soon as she was too broken to be repaired. A father was supposed to care about his children, watch out about every little bruise or cut, allowing her to drive his car underage or carry her to her bed when she was too tired to move from the couch.

None of these were true. She thought she had a family like this somewhere, waiting for her, just as Jesse's. Now, she was sure she never had one. It made her think about her mother. Was she just like the garbage dad she met or was she hoping for her to come home? Was she still alive?

She dismissed her thoughts with a shake of her head. She had to focus on her only objective for the moment, Chloe Beale. Her life was too precious.

Kasmer guided her to the king's quarters where there was Chloe's bedroom. Every person she saw on her way sent her weird looks and she realized her cyborg parts were visible. The brunette eyed a cleaning cart left in the corridor. There was dirty clothes thrown on it. She picked up a large pant, rubber boots, a peignoir not smelling so bad and one washing glove.

She felt less naked and the looks she received were more curious than weird after that. She avoided guards at all costs, with her clothes she would be arrested right away. She continued to walk in the palace at a reasonable pace.

Kasmer detected guards coming in the hallway. There was no place to hide so she rushed to the elevator and pressed the button at least a dozen times. The guards would turn and see her in less than ten seconds. A light ring warned the arrival of the lift shaft. Beca rushed inside as soon as the doors opened.

"Ouch!" She collided hard into someone, head first and the impact made the other person fell on the ground.

"Damn!" The unknown voice was definitely feminine.

Beca reacted very quickly and pushed the button to close the doors. She glanced at the woman lying on the ground as she did so. She looked like a nurse with an hospital gown.

"How can someone be so heavy?" The nurse groaned and her eyelids raised slowly. She was massaging her temples, and a curious expression appeared on her face as she took in Beca outfit. The tiny brunette was too busy watching the doors close to pay attention to the pair of eyes staring at her back.

A light bell rung in the elevator shaft. The doors had closed. Beca let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. She rested her back on the elevator doors, closing her eyes for an instant.

"Where are you heading in such a hurry? Lover's meeting?" The inquisitive voice was closer than before.

Beca hadn't realized the other woman was up. She was tall, with two ridiculously long legs. She had blonde hair with green eyes and her smirk was confident. Well, everything screamed confidence, by the way she was smiling to the was she was standing with no shame regarding her… assets. Her cap had fallen in the action so Beca picked it up by reflex.

"Although I doubt this is where you are going because your choice of clothing is quite… Original."

The voice seemed familiar to Beca, but she couldn't catch when she had heard it. Maybe she should ask her but Kasmer was fast to refresh her memory. Her objective was to find Chloe, not making small talk with the first stranger you bump into. So Beca stepped away from the doors, looking at her feet.

"I'm so sorry Ma'am, I wasn't looking." the mechanic opened the doors and let the nurse out, handing the cap and bowing in the process. Maybe the bow was not necessary but with her outfit, she figured she could do anything and not look more ridiculous. And the woman was really pretty so it couldn't hurt either.

With a last giggle, the nurse left the elevator and strutted in the corridor. Beca sighed heavily and let her hand caress her ear spike. The tentation to turn it on was back. Without Jesse's support and Benji's indications, she felt lost in this huge palace. But she couldn't risk to be discovered now so listened to Kasmer as he indicated the suites' floor and she pressed the right button.

* * *

"We are getting close to the signal." Benji whispered.

Aubrey let out a grunt of relief. The sooner they got out, the happier she'll be.

They had been following the red point on their screens for more than two hours now. It had been immobile for a few minutes now and they hoped to reach it soon. To reach Beca soon. Chloe stopped in her tracks.

"You heard that?" She raised a hand.

They halted and clearly recognized the sound of a shotgun, followed by a heavy breathing and light footsteps. The noise was getting closer. Aubrey took a step forward and got closer to the turn, gun ready to fire. They couldn't see who was coming so the blonde continued to walk. The path was dividing in two long pipes, one to the right and one to the left. With the echo and the pale light, Aubrey couldn't tell from which one the breathing was coming. She stepped in front of the left one and didn't see the figure running full speed in her direction.

"Careful!" Warned an out of breath voice.

Aubrey wasn't fast enough to avoid the impact and collided with the stranger. The slippery ground made them both fall on the path. Unfortunately, the path was too small to welcome two bodies, so Aubrey fell in the gutter next to the path.

The splash came along with a mouthful of curses. _Who would've thought she had such a wide vocabulary in swear words?_ Jesse thought, quite amused at the sight of the controlling blonde in the waste water.

"Bree, you alright?" Chloe rushed to help her friend, not caring about her clean state.

"Yeah, just disgusted." Aubrey grumbled. She glared at the figure still lying on the pathway. She took a mental note to puke on her, if she felt the urge to.

"Who are you?" Stacie threatened with a gun pointing at the stranger's head.

"I-I swear it was an acc-"

"Don't move!" Another voice came from the right pipe.

A black woman with short hair was pointing her air rifle to Stacie. Benji was quick to point a gun to her. Jesse stood next to him but he had no gun. He didn't know how to shoot anyway.

"We don't want a blood war, just let us go." The woman continued, as if it was the most common thing to greet a group in the sewers with an air gun.

The person on the ground moaned in pain. Chloe snapped her eyes to the figure. It was a woman, she couldn't quite see her features in the dark place but she could see the blood dripping from her face.

"Everyone guns down! She's hurt!" She commanded and left Aubrey's side once the blonde was up.

Stacie obeyed but Benji and the black woman were still aiming at each other. Chloe climbed back on the path and crouched down to examine the woman on the ground. Her nose was broken but she didn't seem more injured on the face.

"Ma'am Beale?" The black woman asked almost in disbelief.

Chloe raised her head and was surprised to find out the stranger had put her gun down. Her expression was really strange, as if she just lost something.

"Yes, it's me." The redhead frowned. "Do I know you?"

She seemed confused by the question but shook her head. The woman lying on the ground had her eyes opened wide and jaw hanging, apparently unable to speak.

"Can't believe it…" The woman with the gun murmured but took a step forward. "My name is CR and this is Denise. We were looking for you."

Benji was still aiming at her and spat sternly. "Don't go any further, or you'll-"

His voice died in his throat as a hand lightly rested on his arm. He met Stacie's eyes full of trust. He nodded and slowly put the gun down. CR was at Denise's side immediately.

"You okay?" She asked concerned.

Denise quietly nodded in return but the pain was visible in her features. "My feet hurt."

CR checked on her feet and saw her right ankle in a weird angle. A grimace spread on her face.

"I think you have your right ankle broken. I'll carry you back." She returned her attention to Chloe. While she was looking after Denise, the others had gotten closer and formed a circle on the small path. "Sorry." She added earnestly to Aubrey.

The blonde said nothing. It was clear she was pissed but at least she was unarmed so she couldn't really complain. And she hadn't puked. Stacie volunteered to help Denise stand up. They quickly realized the path wasn't wide enough to have three persons side by side. So Jesse offered to carry Denise on his back. At least he could do something helpful.

"I'm not going anywhere if I don't have an explanation of what is going on." Aubrey stated and the group agreed.

Chloe set her eyes on CR, she seemed to know more about it and Denise was half passed out on Jesse's back. The black woman cleared her throat and eyed them cautiously.

"I would like to make a deal." She locked her dark eyes on Chloe's. "I promise to tell you everything I know when we are in a safe place, the guards are maybe on the way and Denise cannot run away." She looked briefly over Jesse's shoulder to see the woman.

Aubrey sent a warning glare in the redhead's direction but she ignored it. CR had a point, they were in the middle of the sewer and it wasn't the best place to get to know each other. So she agreed and took the lead, searching for the first exit door.


	7. Chapter 7

**Yeah, later than I intended. But better now than never ;)**

* * *

Jessica was softly humming along to some music on the radio. It was a lovely day outside and there wasn't so many customers. She liked days like these. She could sing in the shop at the top of her lungs. Her maniac nature would make her clean every corner of the basement and order the clothes by size. She could eat some cake behind the counter when Ashley wasn't looking, but if she got caught, it would always end up in some childish tickle war.

Today was no different. As the chorus was building, she sang louder than she used to, swinging the cloth in her hands and moving her hips.

 _I need you, I need you, I need you right now_

 _I need you right now_

 _So don't let me, don't let me, don't let me down_

 _Think I'm losing my mind_

She stopped singing as Ashley greeted a couple of customers entering the shop. Finally folding the cloth in four, she heard her name being called. Making her way over, she smiled brightly. Ashley explained their request so Jessica suggested to go downstairs to see if they had some in the storage room. She went to the stairs and took a basket on her way. When she made it to the cave, she started her excavations in the overloaded room. She hummed again, the song stuck in her head.

 _It's in my head_

 _Darling I hope_

 _That you'll be here when I need you the most_

 _So don't let me-_

She heard an unlocking sound. Startled, she stopped singing and looked around. She had always felt safe surrounded by clothes, but she admitted their basement looked like some cheap horror movie setting.

"Hello?"

As soon as she said the words, she felt dumb. Of course, in every horror movie, the character was talking to herself before she was killed because the noise alerted the serial killer. _Great choice. I'm now the target of a psychopath._

The parquet in front of her raised and she jumped back, screaming. A brunette head appeared in the dark entrance.

"Oh, hi!" The face said.

Jessica paled and stepped backwards until her back hit an obstacle. _This is it, the psycho killer coming from nowhere. Always a sweet approaching face before it turns into some pervy grin when you are too close to escape._ The face opened the trappe wider but her eyes were glued to Jessica.

"We want no harm, one of our friends is injured and it would be great to patch her with some light." She didn't move from her spot, not wanting to pressure the blonde woman. "My name is Stacie."

That seemed to do the trick and Jessica stuttered something.

"St-Stacie C-Conrad?" She asked in disbelief.

With the dim lights of the cave and the fact she was only seeing her head made the recognition a bit difficult. But the wide smile she got in return cleared things.

"The one and only." She nodded.

Stacie climbed the last steps and stood in front of her, close enough to whisper her next words.

"Could you do me a favor please?"

Jessica, already frozen in place, opened her mouth but couldn't form actual words. Her eyes were wide open and she was staring at the gorgeous brunette.

"Jess, what are you doing? They are waiting for the coat!" Ashley's voice was coming from the top of the stairs.

From where she was, Ashley couldn't see Stacie. So Jessica took a deep breath.

"I-I'm coming." She said in a shaky voice.

She waited a few seconds to be sure Ashley had left. Stacie had taken a step back. She was looking a little bit guilty and chewed her bottom lip in thought.

"I can leave, you must have plenty of things to do. I don't want you to be in trouble because of me."

"No, no! You can stay! It just…" Jessica sighed. "The shop closes in half an hour, I can be back if you need something."

Stacie acquiesced. "That would be great, thank you. Just don't tell anyone we are here."

Jessica raised an eyebrow at the 'we'. _How many are they?_

"I won't." The blonde promised.

She left the basement quickly after taking the coat for the customers. She grabbed Ashley by the arm when they were trying it on.

"There is some visitors in the basement, we need to close the store quickly." She whispered, the grip on her friend's arm showing her excitement.

"What do you mean? Visitors?" Aubrey frowned back.

"You'll see later, I'm going back to see if they need anything. Will you be okay to close the store alone?" She gave a squeeze on her arm when the woman nodded back weakly. Jessica went downstairs again, leaving a surprised Ashley behind.

Back in the basement, Jessica happily descended the stairs. She stopped in her tracks as she saw more people than she expected.

"Wow." Her voice made seven heads snap in her direction.

Stacie got up with a wide smile. "Yeah we kind of impose ourselves in, I hope you're okay with that." The blonde nodded vigorously back.

Yes, she was okay with Stacie freaking Conrad staying in the basement of her shop but seven persons were a bit, uh, too much - _was that Chloe Beale in the corner?!_

"Hi, this is really nice of you to let us stay here, I promise we won't disturb you too long. I'm Chloe." The redhead had gotten up and was presenting her hand.

This was totally the heiress, smiling at her and offering her hand for, what, a handshake? This day couldn't get any weirder. She gulped down the anxiety - _this wasn't the moment to do something ridiculous!_ \- and took the outstretched hand.

"Jessica. Nice to meet you. And, uh, yes, I wasn't, like, expecting you to be around so… numerous." She flushed and looked at her shoes. _Was it even a correct grammar sentence?_

After that, she shook hands with everyone and learned their names. There was Aubrey Posen, another famous person, but she was smelling really bad and looked pissed. Jessica was wondering what had happened to them. _How could the heiress, Stacie Conrad and Aubrey Posen end up with four random looking persons in my basement, looking like some had to swim in a garbage filled pool?_ It was kind of unbelievable.

"Alright Jess, shop is cl-" Ashley appeared at the bottom of the stairs and eyed the group jaw slacked. "Oh."

The sound coming from her was almost comical but Jessica immediately felt a bit worried for her friend. She must be at another level of starstruck because she couldn't form any words while she was usually speaking too much. Jessica went to her side and introduced them, watching her nod at everyone. Ashley noticed Denise lying on the floor with her legs stretched in front of her.

"Are you hurt?" Ashley asked concerned.

Denise chuckled. "Kind of, my ankle is broken I think." She gestured at the general area of her foot.

"We have a first aid kit upstairs. Why don't you come up with us, we can make you something to eat as well." Ashley offered, always forward when it came to social interactions. That's maybe why we got along so well, Jessica concluded.

"That would be nice." Jesse carried Denise bride style on the first floor, followed closely by CR.

"A shower would be nice too." Aubrey chimed in.

Ashley chuckled and escorted the group upstairs, where she and Jessica were living. They had a small living room but the couch was large enough to settle Denise down. The others took some chairs and soon, they were huddled around the coffee table except Aubrey who had claimed the bathroom hers as soon as Jessica gestured where the shower was.

Ashley was heating a plate of chili to share while Jessica was making some tea and came back with the medical kit. When she neared the group, they fell silent and observed her.

"Here, the kit." Jessica said, pretending to be comfortable in front of them when she was totally stressed out inside.

"Thank you Jessica, we'll take care of this." Chloe smiled sweetly.

Jessica left the living room after a slight nod and a shy smile. Ashley gave her a side hug as she passed in the kitchen.

"Don't worry Jess, you are doing great. Think of them as normal people." Her roommate was smiling kindly at her. "We are humans after all. We all need to go to the toilets so we're the same."

They laughed together at the lame joke. Jessica returned the hug, grateful to have a caring friend to comfort her.

* * *

"So what you are saying is that Beca has been arrested and that there are actually two guards' bodies rooting in the sewer right now?"

The night was setting on them. Stacie and Aubrey took care of Denise ankle and Ashley offered some crutches found in the basement. With the painkillers, Denise was fast asleep on the couch, snoring slightly. They had taken turns to shower - after Aubrey long cleaning - and their hosts had a lot of spare clothes to hand them. Perks of owning a closing shop.

They had been talking since they settled all together. At first, Chloe felt bad for Jessica and Ashley, they were adorable hosts and offered them food and shelter, refusing to be paid in return. Once she figured they would be staying a bit longer than planned, she asked them to come and explained the situation. The two roommates agreed to sign a confidentiality paper and stayed with them in the living room.

Chloe saw them listening wide eyed to their stories. They weren't talking much and the heiress figured they did it to preserve the private ambiance. It made her smile. They were really sweet girls.

"Yeah, the situation is really bad." CR's deep voice brought Chloe back to the conversation.

"We need to go inside the palace to rescue her." Jesse stated firmly. "Or she'll root in jail forever."

Aubrey rolled her eyes. "It won't be a great loss."

"Bree!" Chloe slapped her arm playfully. "Come on, this is serious. You're right Jesse, we need to go in. The only problem is, I can't go, Stacie and Aubrey either, CR and Denise are still out-of-law and we can't take the risk to send either Benji or you. Jessica and Ashley are out, we have already too many people involved in this."

Jessica and Ashley glanced at each other. "I mean, if we can help…" Jessica offered tentatively.

"No." Stacie shook her head. "It's very nice of you to propose but we are talking about infiltrate the palace and free some criminal from the main jail, probably one of the most guarded places in the city. So no, we won't involve someone else in this."

Jessica nodded, a bit disappointed to be moved apart but understanding the reasons.

"I can change temporarily the ID on a screen." Benji offered. "So if we hide our faces from the cameras, we can enter the palace."

"Really?" Chloe sounded hopeful. "That would be great!"

"But for that I need the stuff in my house." He frowned, thinking about how they could go there.

"Oh…"

"We could go with a hood and glasses or something. Let's hope there is no guards on the way so we can go to Benji's discreetly." Aubrey purposed.

"And if there is a control, we're all going to jail." Stacie shook her head. "Well maybe not Bree, Chlo and me."

"That's a risk we can take. It's either this or we do nothing and let Beca in jail for the rest of her life." Chloe added.

"I agree. I can't just stay here and see what happen. At least we can try." Jesse nodded at the redhead. CR and Denise were okay with the plan too.

"You know, we have a lot of clothes in the basement, you can use them to disguise yourself." Ashley offered with a small smile.

"That would help a lot." Aubrey smiled back at their hosts.

They thought about how they would enter while picking outfits to blend into the crowd. As Stacie was flashing on a medical outfit - making Benji drool and Aubrey roll her eyes -, they divided the group in two parts. Stacie, Jesse, Benji and Aubrey were going to free Beca while Chloe, CR and Denise decided to find out why the card was important to Chloe's father.

Less than an hour later, they were ready to head to Benji's house. They all left Jessica and Ashley's shop. Even if the two women weren't involved, they decided it was better for them to be in a safe place. In case they were arrested for having helped CR and Denise, two still actively researched criminals.

The walk to Benji's house was calm and no one recognized them. Once in the bunker, Denise let herself drop on a sofa, putting the crutches aside.

"Ugh, guys you should continue without me." She exhaled loudly.

"Nonsense." CR stated firmly. "I can't let you here."

"I'm just being realistic Cyn. If I could, I'd come with you. But-" She pointed at her ankle. "It hurts like hell and I will only slow you down." She shrugged at CR, who had a deep frown on her forehead. "Who knows what will happen when you go inside the palace. It could be a trap or some things will not go as planned. So I'm safer here." When the short haired woman opened her mouth to protest, Denise cut her off. "Plus, I can guide you from here, be your eyes and ears around the palace."

"Sounds like a good idea." Benji threw above his shoulder as he was logging in his computer.

CR glared at Denise but sighed, admitting her defeat. In her state, her friend couldn't run and it would be dangerous for her to go right into the lion's den. And the prospect of having someone out of the building to back them up was reassuring.

"Alright." CR let a small smile show on her features.

Benji was quick to change the ID on their screens. In addition, he gave them a small ear device.

"This is the same as a radio but nobody can listen to it, the frequency is different. It only works if we are close to each other. It won't be a problem though, because from here we can speak to someone in the palace." He explained and after a few tests, they were used to the device.

Going through the plan a last time, they headed to the palace their separate ways, leaving Denise, Jessica and Ashley to watch them from afar.

* * *

Chloe was sweating. It was really uncomfortable. She had been in stressful situations before but walking around the palace under another identity was enough to make her feel uneasy. She was in a familiar environment but couldn't act like she was home and she feared to be discovered with how casual she was acting.

They established her father's office was the first place to start their investigation. She found the card here and maybe there was some documents on the same topic in the same pile. CR was charged to go in her father's bedroom half an hour later if Chloe didn't find any clues.

The plan was good. Simple. Practical. But there was one thing that bothered Chloe and made her stress levels increase. She needed to enter the office without her father in here and without being noticed by the guards or anyone who would find suspicious to see a bellboy enter the king's office.

"This disguise is ridiculous." She mumbled.

 _"You look wonderful in it, and it's the best to be discreet. Nobody is looking at you."_ She heard Denise's voice in her ear. Chloe had the habit of talking to herself and wasn't expecting an answer, but she admitted it was great to have some vocal support.

As she neared his office, she saw the closed doors. She cursed internally. Her father closed the doors only when he was having a meeting or a private discussion inside. Furtively, she put her back to the wooden doors and tried to listen. She could discern two different voices but it was too muffled to understand the words distinctly.

Chloe cursed again, out loud this time. It made her smile appear on her tense features. Aubrey would be furious if she heard how she was speaking now. She would also scold her for listening a private conversation. When Aubrey serious voice filled her ear, she almost laughed. This ear device was miraculous. She was informed about their progress with the rescuing plan. Stacie was close to the jail now, she heard her seducing a guard while Benji was making gagging noises on the channel.

Chloe focused on her immediate problem: the closed doors of her father's office. If only I could understand what they are talking about, I would know how long I have to wait here. She glanced at her screen. Next to her profile - her name was now Gwen Thomson -, she had the icon of an high tech talkie walkie, showing she had a device in her ear paired with her screen. _Great, I can do something with that._

Putting her arm against the door, she put the talkie to high volume and soon enough, she could hear the conversation. She didn't realize everyone on the channel could hear the conversation too.

What she heard made her body froze immediately. She recognized her father's voice but the feminine voice was familiar too.

 _"What the fuck?!"_

 _"Beca?!"_

 _"Why is Beca on this channel?"_

 _"Oh my God she's alive!"_

Her ear was saturated by Jesse and Benji's voices, both relieved and excited. It went on for a long minute before Aubrey cut them off.

 _"Damn, tone it down boys!"_ She growled loud enough to seem threatening. The bubbly chatter disappeared as suddenly as it came. _"Where is it coming from?"_

 _"Chloe is the closest to Beca's voice apparently."_ Denise indicated, checking on the computer.

 _"Abort the rescuing plan then."_ CR suggested right away.

 _"We're coming shortly Chlo. Don't lose her."_ Stacie ushered a reply, heading for the office.

The channel went silent after that, finally realizing they could all hear the conversation Beca was having with Chloe's father.

* * *

 _At the end of this aisle, I will find Chloe's bedroom._ The closer she got, the more stressed she felt. Her heart was beating erratically and she was breathing louder than usual. Kasmer was using his best calming methods on her but she was still eyeing the corridor like a paranoid. Hopefully, she was alone.

Walking fast, she didn't realized a door was open to her left until a deep voice came from the doorway.

"Beca."

Her entire body froze at the name. She was discovered. Her tiny body was going back in a white cell for the rest of her life until even Kasmer couldn't do anything to stop her from being crazy. She recognized the voice a second after and her breath hitched. _This nightmare can't be real._

She slowly turned around to face the man, hardly believing she was in front of Christopher Beale. He was smiling lightly at her, patiently waiting for a response. Beca pinched her arm and nothing changed. It dawned on her she was actually awake and fully experiencing it.

"I was waiting for you. Come on in." The king spoke and gestured for her to go inside the room. _His office._

She couldn't help but feel like a little troublemaker being scolded by her very wise and patient teacher. She really disliked this feeling. His look made her shiver but she was unable to look elsewhere. His orbs were the same color as Chloe's. Kasmer was urging her to run away, and fast, but her feet moved in the opposite direction, right into the office.

"Take a seat please, make yourself comfortable."

She realized she had been staring at the chair for a while. Christopher was already seated on the king sized armchair on the other side of the massive marble desk. He still had this small smile on, and she hated it. There was nothing cocky in this smile but it was weighing on Beca's shoulders like lead.

"What I am doing here?" She spoke first, disappointed by herself for giving away so easily.

His face didn't show anything but Beca felt his satisfaction from her seat. He crossed his hands on top of the desk.

"I think you know why, Beca." He paused, looking for a reaction but the brunette had decided to remain as neutral as possible. "I learnt, somehow, that you have a card in your possession. Well, this card is very special to me. And I would like to have it back."

They stared at each other during a short moment. Beca could have just handed the card and left his office. Or just leave without giving the card. But when she saw his superior expression, his small almost arrogant smile, she lost it. Her hands clenched into fists.

"How… How could you do this to her?"

He looked at her curiously at first then realized. "You hacked the card."

"You are a monster." She continued quickly, not denying nor confirming it.

"You don't understand Beca, I had no choice." Christopher was surprisingly calm against her accusations. He must've been trained to remain neutral in every situation.

"We always have a choice! You chose to kill her and it was very convenient for you!" Beca exclaimed louder, arms falling to her sides.

"You came back for her didn't you?"

Beca went silent. I came back to protect her. But at the same time, Kasmer reminded her she indeed came back for her. Under the king's stare, she wasn't able to deny it.

"Of course I came back for her. To protect her from her own father." She spat in a disgusted voice.

Christopher shook his head. "I'm doing this for her own good."

Beca let out a sarcastic chuckle. "Dead people are happy, I get it." Her face was between a smirk and a grimace.

"Beca, li-" He tried to interrupt her.

"You don't even feel remorseful! You just planned to kill Chloe and the only thing you can say is 'it's for her own good'? What kind of psycho are you?"

"Bec-"

"You're supposed to rule the country and care for the well-being of your subjects but you just want to kill your-" She accused him with a finger pointed right at his chest.

"She is sterile!" He exclaimed angrily, cutting Beca's rant efficiently.

The rest of her sentence died in her throat, along with her arm, falling lifeless on the desk with a dull sound. _What?_ She heard it clearly but her brain was slow to catch up with this new piece of information. Even Kasmer was speechless for once.

"What the hell! That's not the point!" She let out in a strangled voice, too breathless to speak normally.

She was stunned by the news but the way he had said it was even more surprising. His statement was not dissipating the cloud of confusion surrounding her. Christopher exhaled heavily, as if releasing a long tension.

"My wife is dead and my only daughter can't have children. What am I supposed to do? I planned all this to save her from the truth!"

"Wait." Beca stopped him, barely speaking above a whisper. "She doesn't know she's infertile?"

Christopher sighed. "No, I hid it from her as soon as I knew. That's when I started the research."

At the last word, Beca's blood boiled in her veins. She clenched her fists but refrained the urge to punch him. He didn't notice the sudden change on her face as he continued.

"My goal was to have enough time to find another person, an honorable successor to the throne after me and Chloe. To justify it, I needed an accident to happen, where Chloe was rescued. It would be enough to prove how in danger we are. I would announce publicly Chloe's infertility and offer a solution to it with the research." He took a deep breath. "The only purpose of the treatment was to make me immortal - not permanently. The serum is only temporary. I just needed to live long enough to find and train someone suitable for the crown. Then I could stop the treatment and die at a normal pace."

Beca hadn't realized her mouth was agape. _This is insane. His plan complexifies itself… Why not admitting to Chloe directly and find a solution together?_

Before she could voice her thoughts, the door slammed open and revealed a furious redhead - _dressed like a bellboy?_

"Care to explain?" Her sentence sounded more like an order. Her blue eyes were boring holes into her father.

There was a pregnant pause. Even the air was still for a few instants, as if the tension had frozen the whole atmosphere. Beca was looking alternatively at the father and daughter, judging from which side the first punch will undoubtedly launch. Christopher broke the stare first.

"You weren't supposed to learn it this way." He sighed and glanced at his hands.

Chloe cocked her head. "Well, I'm now. And I would like an explanation. Since when my dad is hiding from me such vital informations, like my current reproductive state or the fact that I was the target of a killer and, oh wait, the killer happened to be my own father." She said the last word with air quotes, her smile painful from all the sarcasm it contained. Beca felt strangely proud of her tone but her heart constricted in a painful way at her words.

Christopher sighed. "I love you Chloe."

"Really?" His daughter snorted. "Doesn't seem like it."

Beca was still eyeing the contest silently. The moment Chloe had entered the office, she wondered how much she had overheard, but it seemed like Chloe was here from the beginning. The mechanic was trying to shrink away from the room but the intensity of the exchange was locking her efficiently on the chair. Kasmer was planning an escape road but Beca relegated him to background. It was a good opportunity to save herself but she was here to find Chloe so it didn't seem right to leave now.

"It had been months Chloe, and I was thinking of options." He saw Chloe open her mouth to retort but he was faster. "No please, I won't bother you any longer. I know I haven't been around much lately. And I apologize for that. But I needed some alone time to think about the future." He smile caringly at the redhead but his eyes were full of unshed tears. "You are ready."

He stopped in his speech. Impatient, Chloe insisted. "What? I'm ready for what Dad?" She was a bit frightened as her father got up from his armchair.

"You can be the new Queen, Chloe." They could hear the capital letter distinctly. "You already know everything you need to know. You'll be a great queen, you have a compassionate soul. On the other side, I'm growing old. I need to move on too."

He walked to the side of his desk. His eyes lingered on the family picture and his banner on display. He took the two items slowly. Chloe gasped. She could see all the emotion he was experiencing by this small gesture, it was his closure. He gazed at them and no one dared to speak.

"I found the perfect successor to the throne." He patted Chloe's shoulder as he left the office, the two women watching him jaws slacked.

* * *

A week after, Christopher made a public announcement. He counted in detail what he had planned, from the research to his abdication, mentioning his plan to murder his daughter. The press interviewing him went haywire the moment of his speech. The whole country watched it live. He also named the next king, because Chloe couldn't rule alone.

"Which leads me to the question you are all asking yourselves right now. This whole disjointed plan had one objective. Finding a successor. Of course my daughter Chloe Beale is going to be ruling the country, but I needed another person to assist her. Someone she can trust. And all these unforeseen events made me realize two things. First, my daughter isn't some object I can dispose as just a "future queen" because she is so much more than that. She is a human with feelings and thoughts, and she can decide things on her own. The second thing I realized was that you can find solutions where you'd never expect them to be. As I was following my plan, an unexpected event occurred. More like, a person came and it changed my point of view. Every father wants the best for their daughters, and I was looking for some handsome, smart and overachieving young man. The reality is different. The life isn't something we plan in advance. It changes and I'm proud to say my successor is not a handsome young rooster. I, Christopher Beale, first of his name and ruler of America, abdicate the throne to Beca Mitchell. Thank you for listening."

The room erupted in questions, shouts and screams. He retired without another word, entering the limousine stationed at the back of the stage.

* * *

Beca rubbed her eyes while suppressing a yawn. The month after Christopher announcement had been really intense. So much had happened. She barely remembered her life before it, with her calm routine at the workshop. And she missed the races.

Stacie and Aubrey had came back to their normal lives but it changed quite radically for the others. First important event, Lily came back after being MIA for two weeks. She knocked on Beca's window one night to announce - quietly of course - that she was leaving the country to start a new business. Beca couldn't decipher the rest of her explanation but it sounded really dangerous and really illegal too. So the brunette said goodbye with a hug and internally swore to never hug frightening people in the future. Thinking of Lily's hug was enough to send chills down her spine. Kasmer was really supportive of this idea.

CR and Denise had been forgiven for their crimes and moved in together in a small villa outside the city. They came back often to see Fat Amy though. The outgoing blonde became a famous singer and her popularity was increasing each day. She joined a band and lived in luxury hotel near the palace. She passed by when she was sober enough to remember the way to Beca's room. During their last lunch together, she admitted she was dating four guys at the same time because "they were like ice cream flavors, you can't just have one". Unfortunately, Stacie was there when she said it and added a seductive "it's better when you mix them together" and winked deviously at Benji.

Poor Benji. Stacie and him had a flirty dynamic going on for weeks. It was almost unbearable for anyone to be with them when they had a conversation. At the beginning, it was light jokes because Benji was flustered very quickly but he had improved and was now responding to her seductive remarks with his sarcasm. It was worse since Benji worked with Stacie. The brunette had been struggling with the coding of a new weapon and after mentioning it in front of Benji, he helped her. Three days after, the weapon was functional. They decided to pair up and had been working non-stop since. They formed a cute genius couple but Beca would rather die than admit it out loud.

Jesse was still studying Movies History in a local college but Beca offered him a scholarship for one of the best universities. After the longest bone crushing hug she ever had - which she complained a lot about -, he thanked her profusely. He has been intending the school since and was absolutely thrilled. He was at the palace most of the days to share fun facts and lame jokes. Beca was grateful for that, their relation didn't change despite the recent events. He always brought something to eat and was acting like a protective brother around her.

It had been different for Chloe too. She was the new queen and with Beca's "king" status, they had gotten closer. The mechanic wasn't complaining at all. Chloe was amazing. She had been training Beca to be a good king, teaching her the laws and the protocol applying to the palace. The redhead had insisted she stayed in the palace, close and safe. Waiting for a room to be set up for the brunette, Chloe had offered her bedroom until it was ready. One month had passed by and Beca was still crashing in Chloe's bedroom. Partly because they had been taking this new king-queen relationship more seriously.

A muffled voice came from behind her, calling her name. Smiling at herself, Beca got up from the desk and switched off the light. She sat on the edge of the large bed, avoiding eye contact with the gorgeous redhead. She looked down at her metallic hand, reflecting the moon and shining slightly. She turned it and was captivated for a moment. With her actual funds, she had been able to improve some parts. She even made a full update of Kasmer, thanks to Stacie and Benji.

"Don't do this." The sweet voice cut out her slightly dreaming state.

Beca shrugged, still not looking at the figure at the end of the bed. "Why not. My cyborg parts are ugly and I would rather have false skin on them than just the bare metal parts. I don't like when people are staring at it."

Chloe got up from her lying position and embraced the brunette's back. She nestled her head in the crook of her neck. Her breath was tickling her but the brunette stood still and let her shoulders relax at the contact. She sighed contently, feeling the smile stretch Chloe's face on her skin.

"You are not ugly. Every wire is part of you and it makes you beautiful." Her lips brushed just under her jaw and lingered in a ghost kiss. "You are just different." Chloe hugged her tighter.

"Mmh." The hum was soft but with their close proximity, Chloe felt it reverberate in her own thorax.

"Please."

"Mmh."

"We don't have normal lives, why having a normal body would change it?"

"Mmh."

Chloe couldn't see the small smile forming upon Beca's lips, but she heard her tone changing. She squeezed the tiny body tighter and whispered close to her ear.

"Come to bed, I can't sleep if we aren't cuddling."

Beca sighed but happily spun around and dove into the blankets, without breaking the hug.

* * *

 **The song is Don't Let me Down by The Chainsmokers**

 **This was the last chapter, hope you like it! Don't hesitate to tell me :D**

 **I'm already working on another prompt but if you have some, I'm all ears ;)**


End file.
